Alone in the Dark
by Rebel-Aquarius
Summary: What if the hallucegenic dust was only the beginning? Now Robin must enter a new world of nightmares that he never knew existed before...in his mind. RobRae
1. Default Chapter

All right. I know I said in "Face to Face," that I didn't write pairings. And I don't! Well…I mean, now I do, because I'm writing this one, but—oh, screw it! This is a Rob/Rae fic. You don't like the pairing, don't read it. If you do like it, read it; I'm pretty sure it'll be good. If you don't care either way, then you have the option of reading it or not. Whatever.

**This fic is dedicated to Azarathangel—my friend—, Insanity 101, and all you other Rob/Rae and slight "apprentice" fans out there. Enjoy.**

Prologue: Contemplation

It had been…what? A few days? A few weeks? Or had it all passed, and this was in the future that had always seemed so distant, a future where evil did not exist, and peace was harmonious throughout the world?

But this is life. And we are humans. Good cannot live on without its other side—evil—there to counter it. For every action, there is a result, for every choice—no matter how noble it may seem at the time—there will always be a consequence, no matter what you do.

Nobody is perfect.

When did it all begin…? Perhaps it started with the first mention of his name, with the way it rolled off the tongue, the very sound sending a shiver of fear and yet interest up his spine. That was what had led to his obsession, pushing him onward like a slave driver, never resting, always searching for an answer. And that, of course, led into identity crisis, as he played both Red X and Robin, deceiving his friends, impressing the man that he had only been trying to trap. He had been a fool, to think that he was clever enough to outsmart a genius, and yet a psycho.

It seemed that everything he did came together like links in the chain of events and tragedies that he had created. No matter how hard he tried, he was never able to unleash what a certain madman might have referred to as his "full potential," without worrying about protecting his friends…his family. They were all tied together by a bond, all of them understanding what loss and betrayal felt like based off all their dark pasts. He loved them like the siblings he had never had…

And one more than the others.

Silent from the first day she had arrived to join the team, but always there, her presence calming him; she never expressed emotions, never let others know what she thought, barely ever smiled…but just for her to be there, just knowing that she stood beside him, was just a good as any gentle touch or kind word a person might give their lover. He'd been a fool, and worn his heart on his sleeve, as if he were just begging for someone to use them against him.

Someone most certainly had used them.

The feel of that wretched uniform against his skin for the first time had made him shiver, as if Slade were making him cast away his past, his true self—everything that made him who he was—to make way for a new person, one that Slade could sculpt and perfect, and transform into his perfect student, his property, his apprentice.

It's interesting, how someone can hear a word and think nothing of it. But after a memorable experience, in which that certain word means a lot more than a simple definition, it can leave an imprint upon one's brain, a mark that you can never remove.

A scar.

It had pained him, to attack his friends for his "master," and he had inwardly winced every time his fist or foot had made contact with one of their bodies. Especially her…he'd never be able to forgive himself for hurting her. He'd never be able to forget hearing their screams; he still woke from time to time during dark nights, gasping for air as he watched her tortured over and over again, while Slade laughed in the shadows.

Even after he'd been rescued, he'd still felt apart from the other four; once, Beast Boy had let it slip that Raven had been the first one to proclaim that he was a criminal, and that he needed to be taken down. He hadn't been able to sleep that evening, and for once it wasn't because of Slade. He wondered if that was what she had really thought, or if there was the slightest, hopeful possibility that she had been covering for another emotion. Grief, for the loss of a…of a friend…

Just a friend.

In a way, it was probably his fault: He'd never trusted himself to speak out and express what he truly felt about her. And even if he did, she would have only scoffed and turned away, leaving him rejected. He couldn't bear the thought of having to endure that, especially from her. He'd already felt the loss of so many other loved ones when he was younger; to death, to anger, and more. There were just too many scars…

So he kept quiet. Stupid, right? That's what he thought. Love is such a powerful emotion, and being forced to contain it within yourself instead of sharing with the one you care about so deeply is true heartbreak.

Time passed—Slade did not make another appearance, probably still brooding about his lost apprentice, and things returned to normal. Well…normal for the Titans anyway. Then a new kid came to town. She had seemed helpless from the way she ran in terror as she was pursued by a monster. At the last minute, though, just when he and his friends had swooped in, ready to protect her from harm, she had turned and crushed it by lifting a ton of rock into the air.

She said her name was Terra, and from the way she and Beast Boy looked at each other for the first time, he knew what they were thinking; it was the same thing that caused him to be so distracted whenever he was around Raven. Love at first sight? Probably the case…if only he had known how deep their love would go, and how much pain it would cause them both, and those around them.

Sometimes, even though it'd been a long time ago since Terra had been encased in stone, he'd lie back in bed and think about the connection his green friend had had with the girl. In the face of evil and betrayal and deception, they'd fought against it, risen above it, shown pure love even when separated for eternity. Beast Boy still went to her marble grave, spending almost hours in the cave…did he talk to her, tell her what was going on in their lives? Did he stare at her? Or did he just sit there, beside her frozen form and think about what she'd been like; not the dark memories of when she'd stabbed them in the back and attempted to kill them all, but when she had arrived for the very first time, bright and happy, before her mind had been corrupted and poisoned by Slade.

He'd never been quite able to comprehend the meaning of "true love," until Beast Boy and Terra had first come together. He'd thought it just a fantasy, something that existed in fairy tales, but not in real life. Real happiness rarely existed in reality. There was always a catch somewhere. He knew from painful experience…

Did Raven think love like that was possible?

He would understand if she didn't. Raven had spent her entire life in misery, haunted by the shadow of a manipulating father, the death of her mother, the prophecy that proclaimed she would release her father upon Earth, which he would consume with evil. He couldn't even begin to imagine how distracted she was, so focused on concentrating and remaining indifferent to everything. She wouldn't have time for something as frivolous as love, not to mention have time to just think about it. He was such an idiot…who would honestly think about love often, unless they were someone like him?

He pitied anybody was like him.

Though it seemed like it had happened yesterday, and yet many decades behind him, the precise date—according to Starfire, who remembered the day well—was only a week ago.

He'd been obsessing again, like he did about everything. He'd never truly been convinced that Slade was dead, even though he'd witnessed fiery lava swallow him. It'd been late at night, and he'd spent it shifting through boxes of information, till he'd found Slade's mask, covered in dust.

Though he hadn't known it, the moment he'd inhaled a part of that cloud, the dust particles had tricked him into seeing Slade's figure everywhere. He hadn't had any trouble believing it; he was able to see him, hear him, fight him, though he'd never had the chance to even touch him. "Slade" had moved so quickly, he could barely get a good shot, and for his efforts, he'd been beaten within an inch of his life.

There had never been a time in his entire life where he'd felt as frustrated and confused as he had at that time, standing before his friends and insisting that Slade was there. They couldn't see him. He should have taken the hint, but he'd plowed right past it. He'd even gone far enough to threaten them…that was no better than anything Slade would have done, and he was ashamed of it.

It was when they'd strapped him to the hospital bed that he'd realized he could be insane. He had been so afraid, so helpless, and yet so unwilling to give into the fact that he was just seeing things…And did he think that he would be safe from Slade in his own home? No. Of course not. You can never run away from the thing you fear the most. Anyone knows this, from the child that lies in his bed, terrified by the monsters that live beneath it, to the father who fears the death of his wife and children, to…to even a man like Slade…he wears a mask…they both do. His mask might only cover his eyes, whereas Slade's his entire face, but masks symbolize something: The one who wears them is hiding from whatever nightmare they believe is out there to get them.

He couldn't help but wonder what Slade was so fearful of, but personally, he was too full of hatred towards the man to even bother understanding him.

One of the first lessons he'd ever been taught by Batman was that "to defeat an enemy, you have to understand him first." And he'd just blown that off, too busy trying to defeat the masked man and put him away once and for all.

There had been one time, when Slade had dragged him into the air vent, seemingly bent on breaking every bone in his body, before he moved on to his spirit. As he had been kneeling there, bleeding—and what felt like dying—he'd felt her inside his head, whispering to him that there was nothing there, that there was no Slade. Her voice had been monotone yet firm as always, but…though she said nothing like it, the connection between the two of them at that time had drawn them together, and he'd gotten a glimpse inside her mind. Within the words that she spoke to him, he'd heard other ones, echoing as if they were trapped. They were of concern, and caring, and though she told him that he was seeing things, she was actually speaking of how he'd survive this, with his usual strength and honor, and how he'd be all right…she promised.

A heavy blow from Slade had driven her out of his mind, but with those words reverberating in his mind, he struggled to keep fighting, until the final moment where he'd switched the lights on, just in time.

In a strange sort of way, a simple action like that was like a war had been resolved. As he collapsed into Starfire's arms, he felt as if he had traveled a thousand miles, out of the darkness and into the light. He was with his friends—he was with Raven—once again…it was all over. Exhaustion overtook him, but he managed to stay awake long enough to listen to Cyborg's explanation of what had caused his hallucinations. After that, he'd been too tired to even thank Raven for giving him the strength to go on. He'd been battling all day and all night, and the only thing he really felt like doing was going to his bedroom and crashing. There was nothing left to worry about; Slade was still dead, he was still alive, and the dust was gone. It was over…

Little did Robin know that dust had triggered much, much more. Seeing Slade everywhere? That was merely the beginning…

**To be Continued…**

That's it, for now. I'll post soon, but I have to also keep up with my other stories, so I won't let down other readers. I don't know if you guys liked this or not (Hopefully you did,) and I'm sorry if the pacing is slow, or anything like that. This prologue was just kind of a review over everything that's happened in the series with Slade. You have to remember these things, because a lot of the stuff I brought up will be relevant in the upcoming chapters. I think I've a got a good plot here, and I hope I get a bunch of reviews so I can write more!

Later!

Rebel-Aquarius


	2. First Effects

Well, I'm back again, ready with another chapter for the Rob/Rae fans of this site. I've been mapping my plot out, and I really think I'm going to like writing this…maybe I should write more fics based off this pairing. It's kind of convenient: Why? All the stuff about Raven is usually weird and about the supernatural, and everything with Robin has a lot to do with balancing the darkness inside you and overcoming it…and there's also Slade. You have to admit, he's pretty cool. But—that is not the point! What I'm trying to say is that their personalities compliment each other and make for good main characters. Well, on with the story!

Chapter One: First Effects

The first thing he noticed was the splitting headache, smashing into his skull over and over again like an invisible hammer. Robin could barely open his eyes without his head being attacked by it. Why was that? He had been getting pretty good sleep the past couple of nights, staying up only until two—pondering Slade's motive behind the dust, of course—rather than the whole night. Oh well…

The second thing was the sunlight, streaming through the gap between the end of his door, and the floor. Light meant that it was at least seven. That made him even more uncomfortable, as he disentangled himself from the bed sheets. Robin had made it a personal goal to always be awake by at least five, so he could be ready for any action that might occur during the earlier parts of the morning…even if it only meant getting about three hours of sleep every night. In the two years he'd spent with the Titans, there had never been a call for help that early into the new day. But Robin was a creature of habit; he couldn't risk anyway. He'd studied the average criminal mind and learned that many of them were compulsive, jumping at an idea with only half a plan formed in their brain. There was always the slightest possibility that the one time he stayed in bed, something terrible would happen. Better not to take that chance.

Though the task of standing was surprisingly difficult, Robin somehow managed to struggle to his feet and stumble to the bathroom where he ran his head under cool water, hoping to ease the violent pounding that seemed bent on making him pass out.

The instant his body felt contact with the icy jets, the Boy Wonder began shivering horribly; but the tactic seemed to be working for some reason, so he held his breath and ducked back under, wondering what his friends were doing at the moment and if he'd be able to make it through even an uneventful day without collapsing.

R-R-R

"Please, friends! Will you care to sample the dish of glorkon beast from my home planet?"

The three other Titans shared uneasy looks at the mention of food from Starfire's planet; Raven, not one to mince words, stepped forward without waiting for Beast Boy and Cyborg's consent.

"No, Starfire, not really."

The alien's shoulders sagged, and, glancing unhappily down at the bowl she cradled in her arms, said sadly:

"Oh…But I have taken several of your Earth hours to prepare my feast. I thought that the buds of taste would enjoy it. I believe it is of the equivalent to what Earth people call the Cheese of Booger."

"I think you mean cheeseburger," Raven began, indifferent to whether Starfire's food tasted like meat or the slime under a rock, but at these words, the expression on Cyborg's face brightened.

"Cheeseburger? Really? Let me have it!"

Starfire grinned widely and zipped off towards the kitchen, twisting in a few spirals out of joy. Raven glared at him.

"You weren't supposed to encourage her," She snapped bluntly. Cyborg looked surprised.

"Why?"

"Because no matter what she says, her food always turns out disgusting. But if you feel like spitting goo out all over the wall again, it's your choice."

The half-machine, half-human stuck his nose in the air and shuffled off the kitchen as well, looking offended. Beast Boy shook his head sadly.

"Those poor cows…or whatever they have back on Tameran that looks like a cow…"

Raven, not looking forward to listening to another vegetarian lecture about "no eating meat!" changed the subject with lightening speed.

"So, is Robin still asleep?"

Beast Boy nodded, still glaring furiously at the kitchen door.

"He must be tired," She concluded, talking more to herself than the stiff changeling standing beside her. "I wonder why?"

"Slade, probably."

"You think so?"

"It's only been a week since the dust."

"I suppose…"

Raven gazed blearily out the panel of windows that took up a wall of the main room, wincing a bit as the sun burned multi-colored spots into her irises. Through the eyes of another—leaning mostly towards the unaware minds of those who dwelled in the city, or even to the other Titans that lived along side him—Robin seemed to be recovering from his traumatic experience pretty well, all by himself. Raven wasn't so easily fooled though: Her powers were locked with empathy, clueing her into the emotions that ran through the Tower. Even though Robin faced them every time with a small, weak smile—supposedly reassuring him that he was fine—she sensed lies within his actions. She would've talked to him, except for one slight problem.

Robin had a strong sense of pride coursing through his veins. Sometimes Raven wondered if that was why he failed when it came to resisting the temptation of obsessing over Slade.

He could never bring himself to speak to anyone—especially her, for he knew she could see through falsehoods—about what he was going through. No…he'd deal with it on his own. Usually, he solved it by locking himself in his room, separating himself from the rest of the team for as long as a month…Robin needed counseling, but he'd never allow it…

Raven turned abruptly towards Beast Boy.

"I'm going to see Robin's awake yet."

"Yep."

As she left, she heard gagging and hacking coming from the kitchen, followed several triumphant shouts of Beast Boy's "Ha, ha! That's what comes from eating meat! Told you so!"

R-R-R

About ten minutes later, Robin felt that it was safe enough to continue with his day. He exited the bathroom, massaging his temples, trying to ease away the grinding pulses that occurred every five minutes or so.

He was almost entirely dressed already, preferring to sleep mostly in his uniform, in case of a late night call; all the Titans did. Swiftly, he pulled on his boots and gloves, before fastening his cape and heading towards the door. It was then that he passed the mirror. Robin paused in front of the glassy surface, running a hand through his hair—something he did only when he was thinking; he'd picked it up from Bruce, whom he'd watched pace for hours into the evening, muttering to himself about the recent schemes the villains in Gotham had created.

Slowly, almost hesitatingly, Robin pulled off the mask that covered his eyes, the only thing that made him feel like he was something more than just a regular human, something more than Richard Grayson. There were dark circles underlining his eyes, revealing the nights spent studying the same newspaper clippings, searching for a hint, a bit of information he might have overlooked the first eighty times…and sometimes he just read them out of routine, the same old question circulating around and around inside his head…not that it did him any good.

_Knock, knock._

Robin jumped and slapped his mask back across his face in an instant. What had he been thinking!

"Come in," He said gruffly, turning to face his visitor as the steel door slid aside with ease. Raven stood in the metal frame, watching him with those seemingly endless black eyes. Robin felt some of the strain lift off his shoulders as he saw plainly that it wasn't anyone else. He'd had too many discussions with Starfire, and he never felt that he got far, even when she was being serious. There was a certain level of comprehension that he could never reach with her; Robin never had the sense that she completely understood how the situation with Slade was affecting him. With Raven…things were a bit easier.

"Hi," She said in her typical, unfazed voice, looking him over. "I was just wondering if you'd be coming out anytime soon."

Robin tried to give an uncaring shrug, but Raven had already had enough time to examine and interpret the emotions that he hadn't hid fast enough. There was anger, fear, and…a pinch of relief? Why? Because of her, or another thing? The demoness tried to breeze past it and continued with:

"Are you okay? You slept in late."

Robin gave her the regular, tight grin that told him he was anything but "okay."

"Just fine, aside from this headache."

"Ah."

"I don't know why I stayed in a couple hours later than usual. It's strange, right?"

Raven couldn't hide her surprise as well as she might have liked, and Robin, just as perceptive as her at times, caught it.

"What's the matter?"

"Um…" Raven nodded toward the clock on his bedside table. "Is your clock still working?"

"Why?"

"Robin…it's already ten."

"What!"

"Yeah…" Raven tried to laugh a little, though all that came out was a rough, grating sound. "You must have been exhausted. You just came in here last night and crashed."

She could tell by the deepening frown appearing on his forehead that she had better switch the subject quickly.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really."

"Hmm. Well, you should at least come out; you aren't going to spend the entire day in here, are you?"

Robin, though he looked like he was seriously considering the prospect, nodded curtly and followed her out into the hallway, stopping only to shut the door behind him. Raven couldn't help herself, and before she knew it, the question spilled out of her mouth.

"Why do you do that all the time?"

Robin raised an eyebrow, looking a bit interested by her sudden outburst.

"It's to keep my evidence from being scattered around. I need to make sure it's compiled into certain categories, so I don't get my notes mixed up with each other. It's also to keep anyone from coming in and messing with my stuff. You see, research like this takes a lot of precision…"

The conversation remained on the same topic, all the way down the plain hallways and into the main room.

R-R-R

Artisan Labs Inc. had been founded over four years ago, by young—and brilliant— twenty-five year old, Nigel Wolfe, and had steadily grown, over time, into one of the nation's biggest technology labs, constantly creating different computers to assist every type of person, from the simple child doing their homework after school, to a well-known detective requiring a laptop with the perfect stealth system.

Needless to say, Wolfe was one of the richest men in the world under thirty, and proud of it. When he had been only twenty-six, he had decided to prove the full extent of his work by building his main facility in the middle of Jump City, populated by several of the most brilliant criminal minds in the world, such as the secret organization that called themselves the H.I.V.E, and the strange, ever present silhouette of a man called Slade, who wreaked havoc within the city while remaining in the shadows. It was an especially daring move after the break-in at one of Bruce Wayne's buildings, though the thief had never been caught.

Wolfe had designed what he announced was the "most secure vault in the world," where he stored all his latest ideas, as well as his extensive wealth. He had sworn that it was next to impossible to crack the code _and_ manage to exit the building with the money.

Unfortunately, according to a certain boy genius's readouts, Wolfe was dead wrong.

"C'mon, you scrum-buffers, hurry it up!" Gizmo hissed in his microphone. There was a moment of silence, before:

"It's done," Jinx growled on the receiving end. "Keep your shirt on, eh? Give us a second to get out of here, and then hit the detonation button."

Gizmo cackled—sounding rather evil for someone his age—as though he were a toddler given the permission to break a toy in half.

"This is gonna be so much fun…"

R-R-R

Sirens went off in Titans Tower, alerting the powerful five. Cyborg pulled up the computer screen, carefully looking over the information they were receiving.

"It's the H.I.V.E.," He growled, cracking his knuckles. "I've got their coordinates. Come on—Beast Boy and I can take the T-Car, Rae and Star can follow, and—"

"I'll take the R-Cycle," Robin said shortly, cutting his mechanical friend off. "If we hurry, we might be able to trap them before they can get very far."

His team nodded and hurried to their positions; Robin trailed behind them though, instead of taking the front like he often did…Damn, his headache was coming back…and it hurt like heck…

R-R-R

Gizmo giggled wickedly as he pulled up multiple windows on his laptop.

"This is brilliant stuff—too bad I'll be the one using it! Jinx! Mammoth! Take a look at this!"

Mammoth lumbered over to peer over the midget's shoulder, but the pink-haired sorceress continued running her hands through the piles of dollar bills and coins within the vault.

"All this money—think of what we could do with this!"

"Purchase doomsday weapons for Brother Blood—"

"Bribe politicians into infiltrating the government and spilling all their secrets—"

"Hire new criminals to join up with us—"

"How about giving it back?"

The three teenagers jumped and looked towards the catwalk above them, where the Teen Titans perched, looking as dangerous as ever. Robin glared down at them, whipping out his bo-staff with ease.

"Explosives? I thought you guys could come up with something a little bit more creative than that. Shame; Titans, go!"

Jinx straightened and, smirking with glee at the battle, shouted:

"Team! Attack Pattern Gamma!"

The two sides attacked one another: The clash of the Titans. (Rebel: Ha, ha. Forgive the lame pun. I couldn't resist.)

Robin swept his bo-staff through the air, the metal singing as it cut through the air to connect with Mammoth's head. Beside him, Raven sent dark spirals soaring from her palms to create a barricade against Jinx's neon power. Starfire came to her assistance, hurling green starbolts at her Gothic friend's attacker; Jinx was forced to backflip in order to evade the speeding disks.

"Man, you little pest! When I get my hands on you—"

Robin glanced over his shoulder to see Gizmo run past, screaming in terror, Cyborg in pursuit, one large hand gripping the small boy's backpack.

"Get away from me you barf brain, dirt muffin, crud head—AHHH!"

Beast Boy, in the form of a tiger, leapt in front of him, growling darkly as if implying that if Gizmo took another step, he'd be torn, limb from tiny limb…which was probably true. Robin grinned and, with another sharp crack, knocked out Mammoth, who had been preparing to charge him.

The battle was already won; even though Jinx was putting up an impressive fight all by herself, she didn't stand a chance without the assistance of her fellow team mates. For the first time that day, things felt like they were going right…

And then, just like that, it all ended in one swift motion.

His headache, which had seemed to disperse for the time being, came back with a sudden, powerful jolt, racking his brain with an intensity he had never experienced before. Robin had no time to yell in pain, before he collapsed to his knees, eyes clouding over with a thick, black fog that seemed to block out all his senses, enveloping his body…he was falling, falling through shadow and mist…

The last thing he heard before he blacked out entirely was a single voice, screaming his name…

_"Robin!"_

**To be Continued…**

I feel kind of stupid. I'm writing out tons of chapters for posting, because, well…I've become totally addicted to it already! I like it just as much as "Face to Face," and "Thieves and Heroes," and that's saying a lot, seeing as I happen to be extremely attached to those two…Hmm. Well: The evilness of a cliffy! What's wrong with Robin? Is Raven falling for him? And what does Slade have to do with all of this? Find out next chapter!

Until then, keep rockin', keep writing:

Rebel-Aquarius


	3. Coma

Hey there! I'm back, with Robin, Raven, evil plots, romance, darkness, and all that good stuff. I'd just like to say that I'm SOOOO thankful for all the reviews you guys sent me, and that I've gotten a lot of support on this recent fic of mine…so I think that means it's safe to continue, right? Heh, heh…Uh, on with the show…or story…whatever.

Chapter Two: Coma

Darkness.

Engulfing his body, pulling him downwards into the unknown…Breathing was almost impossible, for the shadow seemed to be smothering him, ensnaring him in a trap of eternity…nowhere to go…

Quiet.

Utter silence, surrounding him everywhere, exploding and cutting his ear drums apart without having to make a single sound; there was no way to move through the palpable curtain of looming calm that imprisoned him, like a spider might ensnare an insect in its inescapable web.

Stiff fingers attempted to twitch, struggling to break free of the strange spell that kept him captive; his entire body was numb, for feeling and emotion could no longer reach him. His eyelids seemed heavier than granite, and he didn't have enough strength to open them for even a moment…

_What's…what's the matter with…with me…?_

Thought was sluggish, and even simple words took a lifetime to visualize…and it hurt too much to do anything: Period.

He relaxed the tense muscles in his body and stopped fighting, allowing himself to keep falling into a dense fog of mystery…

A last bolt of pain shot into his body, and his senses suddenly returned; every bone was on fire, blazing brighter than Hell itself. And then, oddly enough—

It was gone…and so was he.

R-R-R

Robin's face was as placid as a lake in the cool, gray hours of dawn, devoid of any expression that may have shown life. Even his chest had slowed its steady rise and fall as he inhaled and exhaled oxygen, as though he was being suffocated.

Raven was perched on the edge of her seat near his bed, staring at her leader with unwavering concern. Cyborg's brief deduction, before Robin had been rushed to their small medical center within the Tower, was that he had sunk into a coma. But how? Comas were usually results from severe accidents or blows to the head. Neither had happened to him, though he had complained of a headache; that wasn't unusual, though. The five of them were constantly rushing around, trying to defeat criminals before they caused too much damage—the occasional head pains/migraines were typical in their home. Still…

This whole thing didn't seem quite right.

The Gothic demon rose from her chair, unable to remain sitting any longer, and began pacing back and forth across the room, willing the cogs in her head to begin turning, to try and create a logical explanation for the situation…Nothing. And why not? This, most certainly, was not normal.

But how had it happened?

Raven, even though she didn't show it, hated it when she came across something that she couldn't comprehend easily, like a particularly complicated spell in one of her books on magic. It had never failed to annoy her.

That was one thing she and Robin had in common, actually.

He couldn't understand the way Slade worked, or the way he thought, unlike all the other villains he had encountered. This was most likely the reason why it was no problem for Slade to frustrate or goad Robin into doing stupid things that he'd regret later. It was a strategy, all part of a plan that had worked out in the mastermind's head, and was just waiting to be set into motion.

Would they be prepared for it when his attack hit the city? And if they failed—and somehow lived, though Slade would most likely destroy them all—would Robin ever be able to forgive himself for it?

The dark sorceress returned to her friend's side, but didn't sit, once again choosing to return to the task of watching over him…

What if what was happening to Robin _was_ Slade's plan? Raven repressed a shudder at the thought—if Slade did anything to him, she would never let the man rest again. Her friend had been put through enough already; the last thing he needed was to be a pawn in Slade's plot…

If it was his plot.

But what if he had nothing to do with it at all? What if it was another bad guy? Or, even worse, what if it was Robin himself? Raven had read many books about the supposed theory of some people who had the unique talent of putting themselves into self-induced comas. Had Robin finally lost it, and decided to take the easy way out—?

No. He was too honorable. Her friend would have rather killed himself than let himself surrender just like that…right?

Footsteps echoed dimly in the hallway as their owner drew nearer. Raven didn't even bother to let them knock and used her black power to whip open the door, facing them with her typical bored expression. Starfire stood there, looking alarmed by the loud crash.

"What is it Starfire?"

The alien girl blinked out of surprise.

"Huh—oh! Yes! Friend Cyborg has ordered me to inform you that he requests of your presence quickly. He says that he has found information about friend Robin that may help explain what has happened, and—"

Raven didn't wait for her to finish her sentence, but immediately grabbed her team mate's arm and dragged her back down the hallway, though she locked the door behind her. To help her friend rest easy…or was it to keep unwelcome strangers out?

R-R-R

_"So…she locked the door to keep the monsters out…poor, foolish little girl…does she think that that can protect you? She should know that the **monsters** are already within…"_

R-R-R

The room was so heavy with concern that even the air seemed to drip with apprehension. Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire sat stiffly on the couch, while Cyborg brought up different digital images of Robin's brain on the large computer screen, before turning to his friends.

"See what's the matter?"

Slowly, the three other Titans shook their heads.

"Yeah…that's what it looked like to me when I first examined the photos. But then I zoomed in to get a better look; guess what I found?"

There was no answer, though his audience leaned forward, eager to hear any good news. Unfortunately, they were sadly disappointed.

"Take a look at this."

Cyborg brought up different pictures, showing a closer view of the brain. Raven's amethyst eyes narrowed slightly.

"Wait a minute…that—that can't be what I think it is, is it?"

The half-human, half-machine nodded wearily.

"Yeah…yeah, it is. Turns out Slade's dust was created to do more than just have Robin see his ghost everywhere. You see the weird discoloring in the convolutions?"

Raven nodded cautiously, though Beast Boy and Starfire remained lost.

"Convo-whatsits?"

"The ridges, B.B. There are ridges on the human brain, and they're called convolutions."

"Convol—tutions?"

"Close enough. Anyway: The color is actually the hallucinogenic dust from a week or two ago."

Starfire gasped in horror.

"No! That cannot be! We have cured friend Robin, and the dust of evil is gone! Friend Cyborg, you said—"

"I know what I said, Star! But I was wrong! Slade's _real_ purpose was never really Robin seeing his ghost—that was just a side effect and, in that psycho's eyes, an extra bonus. The dust is actually meant to affect the way Robin's brain works, twisting it so it does whatever Slade wants it to do, which means—"

"Slade's the reason that Robin's in a coma," Raven finished, lips taut with worry. "But, the question is, _why_?"

Cyborg gave a dry laugh.

"I wish I knew. I just finally figured out what's going on with him. By the time I actually unravel all the information on Slade and _possibly_ discover his plan, Robin could be…"

His voice trailed off, and Cyborg switched his robotic gaze to the floor. Raven, with a sigh, stood and slowly headed towards the door, muttering a quick, "I have to meditate." The door slid shut behind her, leaving the three Titans to ponder by themselves.

R-R-R

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"

Closing her eyes, Raven allowed herself to let go of all the ties that held and bound her to Earth, before she slipped into the world within her mind; the Goth somehow relaxed a bit, as she drifted downwards into familiar surroundings before gently landed on the plain of gray rock that was suspended in midair. Calm serenity overtook her troubles and, folding her legs, she sank to the ground, trying to decide what to do about the current situation at hand. All she needed was solitude to help her concentrate…Sadly—

"RAVEN!"

The demoness turned and was trapped in a bone-crushing hug by none other than a twin of her, aside from the pink cloak that was tossed casually about the other girl's shoulders.

"Hello, Joy," Raven grumbled.

"Oh, Raven, it's so nice to see you!" Her happier side cheered, giggling like a school girl. "It's been way too long!"

"Joy: I saw you yesterday."

"Whatever! Rae, I'm so glad to see you!"

"Let her go, eh Joy?" The new speaker was another duplicate of Raven, only swathed in a green cloak.

"Sorry! I'm just so happy!"

"What else is new…?" Grumbled Raven beneath her breath. Courage strode forward, the picture of confidence, to stand beside the pair, crossing her arms out of habit more than attitude.

"So, Raven—'sup?"

"Well—"

"Raven? You're here already?"

One by one, her other emotions came into view to stand about her in a circle, some chatting animatedly, others remaining quiet, based off their personalities. Eventually, Wisdom cleared her throat, before stepping forward and saying with her usual, interested tone:

"I know we are all quite enthusiastic to see Raven once again, but based off of my studies on the inner workings of your mind, you have been quite distracted lately, no?"

Raven nodded.

"Then am I correct in the assumption that the current events that have been troubling you endlessly is the reason as to why you are here?"

Again, Raven nodded.

"Ah."

Wisdom pushed her glasses up from where they were steadily sliding down the brink of her nose before continuing.

"Would you care to explain the situation? Not all of us are sure about what has been bothering you."

"I know," Love said smoothly, adjusting her deep purple cape. The tiniest hint of a blush came to Raven's cheeks, and she shot Love a warning glance, though said nothing. Wisdom coughed lightly, drawing attention back to her question.

"Now; what has occurred?"

Raven sighed wearily.

"Do you all remember Slade?"

Each of her emotions nodded gravely, including Joy. Timid gave a strangled yelp, however, and dashed behind Courage.

"He—he's b—back?" She asked in her tremulous voice.

"Yes."

Wisdom frowned, looking intrigued.

"But wasn't he presumed dead?"

"Yes."

"Then how—"

"It's the dust." Raven didn't need to explain any further, for at these words her different sides all winced simultaneously; they had each felt the pain of Slade's attack as he had struck Raven from Robin's mind.

"Cyborg says that Slade's plot wasn't entirely focused on making Robin appear insane. The dust particles have sunken into the crevices of his brain and, tampering with his mind, have sent Robin into a coma." Raven felt her shoulders sag.

"I don't know if there's any way to help him…"

Wisdom nodded sadly, and Love moved forward to pat Raven's shoulder sympathetically, but—

"Well, well, well; poor little Raven's afraid. Dear Robin may be in trouble and there's nothing she can do about it. Don't make me puke."

A vicious, sneering voice cut through their circle, and several emotions scattered to make way for an all too familiar girl with multiple, glowing eyes, and a cape as red as blood.

"Anger," Raven growled, though she couldn't help but wonder why _she_ was here. "What do you want?"

"To listen, and to find out exactly why your mind has been coated in such sickeningly sweet fumes lately," her fury said in a distorted version of Raven's own. "For a moment, I thought you had actually driven your inner evil away." Anger paused to "pray" in relief, mocking Raven's righteousness and bravery.

"And then I realized what it was," She hissed, and Raven thought, for a moment, that she saw a forked tongue slip between Anger's fangs.

"It was _love._" Trigon spat the last word from her lips as though it were poison. "You're too scared to think of losing someone who actually means something to you…" Anger leaned forward with a malicious smile, before whispering:

"And we all know what happens when you get scared, Raven…"

The Goth girl closed her eyes, trying not to think of the cage that had been dragged to the darkest corners of her mind, where Fear now lay howling and clawing at the bars like a rabid animal, terrified at being left alone in the pitch black…

A moment of silence passed, in which her multiple sides clustered behind Raven for protection, to avoid the girl who emitted so much hatred from her being. Then—

"Why don't you do something about it?"

Raven blinked.

"What did you—"

"You heard me! You act as if there's nothing you can do. Why don't you rescue him? You know that you can go into other's minds; you did it once—why not this time? Stop whining and help him."

Raven paused, turning the idea over in her head…yes…yes, why not? All she had to do was dive into Robin's brain for a few seconds, and help him escape. How hard could it be? On the other hand…

"Why are you helping me?" She asked Anger suspiciously. The girl in red shrugged in an uncaring way as she examined her sharp, inch long claws.

"Go ahead. Question me, waste time. It makes no difference to me."

Raven bit her bottom lip, speeding through the plan once more, before nodding swiftly and departing with nothing more than a brief wave towards her other sides. Anger watched her go with smug satisfaction, a cruel smile playing on her lips.

R-R-R

"Ow…where—where am I?"

Robin winced as he ran a hand over a new lump on his head, though he wasn't quite sure how he'd acquired it. He could move again: That was a major improvement from his previous predicament…The Boy Wonder shut his eyes tightly, trying to visualize everything that had happened…he'd been fighting the H.I.V.E. He and his friends had been winning, and then his head ache had returned and—

That was it. He could remember no more.

_Weird…_

With a groan, he pushed himself up, noticing in the process that everywhere, all about him, was completely black. That was even stranger. He could have sworn it had been morning a few minutes ago…unless he was underground…

Robin stretched his hands out blindly, attempting to locate walls, or even a ceiling, if it was low enough…nothing…there wasn't even a floor beneath his feet! …So, how could he be walking? As the boy continued to move forward, a feeling of unease began growing over him, as if he wasn't alone but was instead being watched by another, constantly evaluated…he'd only felt that way around one person before in his entire life…

"Hello, Robin."

Suddenly, things had just gotten much, _much_ worse.

**To be Continued…**

Ah-ha! A cliffhanger! But I'll post soon, so have no fears, please. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even though there are a lot of horrible—and yet, some really cool things—waiting to happen later on in the story. Please review, and I'll see you soon!

Later:

Rebel-Aquarius

The air in the room was so heavily coated with grim feeling that even the air seemed to drip with apprehension. The four Titans had assembled in the main room,


	4. A New World

I have returned! Rejoice and be merry! …Or, just sit there, silently willing me to shut up so you can get on with the story. Either one is fine with me. Updating on my stories has been a bit slow, lately, since I haven't felt any real creative surges…and, unfortunately, the occasional muse hasn't been all the interested in dropping by, no matter how many times I keep praying…Crap. Any—hoo, this chapter is just going to explain some stuff…sorta boring, so don't kill me.

Chapter Three: A New World

"SLADE!" Robin snapped, turning quickly in the darkness, squinting furiously as if hoping to catch even the slightest glimpse of the man. "Slade! I know you're around here! What do you want!"

No answer. Robin sighed in frustration and began moving forwards again, his ears pricked slightly to catch any noise that sounded out of place. He had heard him—he knew he had! Or had he? What if he was just hallucinating again? Sanity was one of the few, precious things he still had—though it seemed to be steadily slipping out of his grasp. It was probably the only thing that kept his friends willing to believe in him…if they still did.

Unlikely.

Muttering a curse under his breath, Robin fumbled with his belt, pulling out the first weapon his fingers touched; his bo-staff. Good enough.

"Do you honestly think you can fight me, Robin? _Here?_"

The teenage hero crouched, waiting, before lunging at where he had last heard Slade's voice coming from. He, instead, went crashing into a wall, body slammed hard against what felt like concrete…great. As if his head wasn't abused enough today… At least he'd found one wall. Maybe, if he followed it for awhile, he might gain some sort of sense about the exact perimeter of wherever he was. Speaking of which…

"Where the hell am I, Slade?" He roared threateningly at the shadows, waiting again for his enemy to respond. It didn't take long, the criminal's voice coming quickly and smoothly, as though it were coated in amusement.

"You mean you don't know? I thought, of all people, you would recognize it."

_Obviously not._

"No," He shot back, hand tightening on his weapon. "Enlighten me, please."

As if on cue, two thin, beams of light shot down from above like spotlights, one revealing the imposing figure of Slade, hands behind his back as usual. If this was the man's idea of humor, Robin wasn't laughing. Slowly, the boy entered the second ray, metal staff glinting slightly.

"Better?" Slade asked in that smug voice that never failed to make Robin want to slug him in the stomach.

"Yes," The Titan muttered, never looking away. Silence stretched between the two, as they surveyed one another. Slade, sizing him up, whereas Robin glared at the still concealed scenery about them. Finally, the quiet was broken by Robin's sharp question of:

"You never answered my question. Where is this place? And where are my friends? If you did anything to them, I swear I'll—"

"They are still in your Tower, as are you…in a manner of speaking," The man added under his breath. Robin glanced around again at the impending shadows all about the two of them.

"I don't understand…I've never seen this place before. This is new to me."

"Well of course it would be. Not many people take the time to look inside their own minds."

It took a minute or so for Robin to completely process this, but when he did, he began to back away back into the darkness, shaking his head.

"You're lying…YOU'RE LYING!" His voice echoed in the emptiness, so that it sounded like several ghosts of himself were screaming along with him.

"This isn't possible. You—this is—and—you shouldn't be in my head, _if_ this is my mind. And I seriously doubt it…"

Slade looked mockingly surprised.

"No? But, Robin: Most of your free thought revolves around me, whether you know it or not. It only makes sense that I would be here, controlling everything you think about."

"This—" Robin tried searching for the right word. "This is insane. I'm just—I have to be dreaming, There's no way this can be happening…"

"I can assure you, it is. How else do you explain the two of us, standing here right now?"

"You must have done something to my head," Robin growled. Slade's eye flickered almost red for a moment.

"Now _there's_ an idea…"

R-R-R

"Are you crazy!"

Raven met this statement with a blank stare as she remained still, watching Cyborg with a trace of a severe frown threatening to crease her brow. Her robotic friend gaped in surprise.

"You're…you're serious?"

"Yes."

"Man, you _are_ nuts!"

The Goth girl gritted her teeth in concealed frustration and said in a muffled voice:

"I'm not nuts. And I'm not suicidal either," She added waspishly, as Cyborg opened his mouth again to speak.

"However, I _am_ concerned. The last thing I want is for Robin to be trapped in a coma for the rest of his life. If you and your technology can't help him, then I can."

"Raven…" Beast Boy muttered weakly from his spot on the couch. "Dude, please tell me you're joking?"

Instead, however, the demoness let loose a rather strangled cry of anger.

"NO!"

The filthy dishes that had slowly been building up in their sink over the past three weeks flew from their haphazard stacks to shatter against the wall. Starfire squeaked as the ceramic fragments scattered themselves over her lavender boots, and she quickly drew her feet up onto her chair.

Meanwhile, Raven, breathing heavily after her emotional outburst, turned towards a shocked Cyborg, her eyes weary and a bit pleading. It surprised him, but he didn't comment on it.

"Please," She whispered. "Please, just let me try."

Cyborg bit his lip, thinking hard.

"Rae…where did you get such a crazy—ass plan anyway?"

Raven blinked, a bit thrown. How could she even begin to describe her amazement at Anger's advice—Cyborg and Beast Boy wouldn't understand, not after their trip into her mind…nor could she explain Fear's intoxicating shrieks of utmost terror at (just as Rage had said) losing Robin. He was probably her closest friend, and one of the few that knew what she was going through…

_"Just a **friend**?"_ She heard Love whisper softly in her ear. _"Or something much, much more…?"_

"Shut up," Raven growled irritably. An indignant look crossed Cyborg's face.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I wasn't talking to you."

She could have smacked herself for saying something that stupid; Raven was trying to persuade Cyborg to bend the safety rules, and she could see from his raised eyebrows and the looks he exchanged with Starfire and Beast Boy that he was immensely skeptical.

But—?

"Well…look, Rae, I don't know. Don't you think it's a bit…well, risky?"

The girl's eyes narrowed to determined slits.

"Nothing, _nothing_ is too much of a risk when it comes to our friends."

Cyborg tiredly massaged his temples.

"Fine."

"Follow me," Raven instructed, drifting swiftly towards the medical wing.

R-R-R

Slade casually strolled about Robin's stiff form, more rays of light shooting down to light a circular path around the Boy Wonder. The boy's eyes never left Slade for even a second….not that it would do him any good.

"Robin, though you may not know it, your mind can be surprisingly complex at times, as I have taken the time to discover."

The teen glared, not saying a word as he continued to listen carefully.

"Even your simplest thoughts are used to continue building up this…_maze_ that one must wander through to reach the very core."

Slade snapped lightly, and, to Robin's horror, colossal green hedges burst from the ground, swerving to create a trap all around him.

"W—what—how are you doing this—?"

"Or…"

Slade reappeared easily before Robin, shimmering slightly as if he were a mirage fading and appearing upon the flat plains of a desert.

"Perhaps a better word would be labyrinth?"

The plants began to morph slowly, slithering as they hardened and thickened, transforming into slabs of sturdy rock that towered over Robin's head, as if closing him in. Though he'd never thought he was claustrophobic, the very sensation was making it a struggle to breathe.

Slade was gone now, but his voice lingered, whispering in the boy's ear:

"Have you ever heard of the Greek legend about the Minotaur?"

Robin nodded obediently, still terrified as his eyes darted around—perhaps he had been expecting the mythological creature to spring at him. But what was to come would be far worse.

"It is much like your mind…of course, there is not just one, blood thirsty monster waiting for you in the center…_they are all around you…_"

And from behind a nearby corner, Robin heard an only too familiar roar.

_Somebody please help me…_

**To be Continued…**

Well…okay, it was a short chapter, and I got a little lazy. So sue me. I hope you liked this, and the next chapter will be coming soon…just as soon as I get a few things sorted out.

Later—

Rebel-Aquarius


	5. Rescue Mission

(Hides behind desk) Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I know I haven't updated in an age and a half, but I apologize! I really am SORRY! Well…for those of you that read "Scars," you know that this week is my big update week. Thus, explaining the reason that I'm adding a new chapter to this story after taking so darn long. Heh, heh, heh…don't worry, I'll be faster from now on…(don't kill me!)

Chapter Four: Rescue Mission

_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…_

Though the fog was already enveloping her, drawing her away from reality, Raven could still hear Cyborg's voice explaining things to the other Titans.

"She knows what she's doing!"

_Do I? _she questioned dreamily, head spinning a little awkwardly. She was having to use a lot of her energy to do this…what if she fainted before she succeeded?

"Dude, what if something goes wrong!"

"Yes! What shall occur?"

"Are y'all saying she can't take care of herself?"

"No!"

"I believe friend Beast Boy is merely suggesting that if she injures herself, there is a possibility she may…"

The words melted into the shadows…Raven felt the "threads" that she was made up of on Earth start to unravel and flow towards a dark silhouette that stood beneath a spotlight…the figure turned their head, and Raven saw that it was a foggy reflection of Robin. He was biting his lip, and his brow was furrowed; the picture of obvious worry.

_"Raven…?"_

_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…_

I'm here, Robin, she thought desperately, reaching out one of her hands to him. Take my hand.

The two of them were being drawn apart by some unknown force, and his fingers scrabbled at the back of her hand. Raven felt their palms connect, his glove's fabric against her skin, and she tried to pour all of her concern, her will to save him (and, perhaps a bit of some other mysterious emotion?) into that moment.

Let me in…let me help you…

Her powers were stretching, being pulled apart like a rubber band—how far could it go, how long could it last before it snapped, and she went hurtling back to Earth?

I'm so close…don't let go of me…

Slowly, very slowly, the hand she was gripping went transparent like a ghost's; a tingling sensation went over the rest of her body, and without hesitating to think, she plunged inside him, rushing towards his mind amidst a wild current of thought, and of fear.

R-R-R

Robin whipped around another corner of the labyrinth, heart pounding in his ears like a drum intertwining with the rhythm his feet made as they slapped the ground. His breathing was labored, and he knew secretly in his mind that he would give up soon…

A secret? In his mind, where Slade now was? Ha. Yeah, that was a laugh.

Behind him, the visage of Plasmus gave an enraged bellow at not being able to trap its victim yet.

It probably didn't make sense, that Robin was running from a villain that he'd faced a million times before, but…he'd always thought that the creature had more potential than just throwing around globs of slime. Sometimes he'd made calculations in his head before he went to bed, imagining different things that could be changed in Plasmus's basic formula that would make him more dangerous and deadly.

Right now, the Boy Wonder could've smacked himself for doing something as stupid as that; since he was guessing he really was in his mind, now the beast had transformed into its potential self—and without the Titans here to help him, Robin was positive that he couldn't defeat it.

With another loud roar, Plasmus closed its multiple, sickly green eyes, as if concentrating—and for a moment, Robin was intrigued. That is, until he felt something slimy at his ankles; the monster had spread the putrid filth that made its being up all over the ground of the maze, oozing into even the smallest corner.

The teen tried to run, but the muck slowed his movements down, and the gelatinous mass squirmed and sucked at his feet so that he was barely even walking. It was like a nightmare—the kind where you know there's something evil coming after you, and you're trying to escape, but your feet are stuck in some thick, invisible substance…

It only got worse.

Robin lost his balance. It was stupid to him; he'd been an acrobat at an early age, and yet in the face of panic, he just _had_ to trip.

_Stupid, stupid, STUPID, _he screamed mentally at himself, as he fell into the disgusting goop. His hands, which he had put out in front of him to brace the impact, were now trapped; he was up to his elbows in the sludge. Robin was being swallowed up by the slime, and it made him want to gag in disgust.

Plasmus gurgled nastily, and the Boy Wonder felt the slime about him begin to write and boil.

"Noooo…" He moaned softly in revulsion, squirming and twisting to no avail.

The monster started to reel his captive in, wide mouth stretching and expanding, as if to consume the teenager—

"Let him GO!"

_Raven?_

Sure enough, the Goth girl was standing atop one of the labyrinth walls, glaring down on the spectacle. One hand was perched on her hip, and her eyes were slits within the black of her hood. True, her skin was a bit more pale than usual, and she seemed a bit fatigued, but otherwise, the commanding presence she held was still strong.

Plasmus, turning to survey his new opponent, screamed—again, Robin noticed in annoyance, while belching purple mess at her.

"Look—mmphg!"

A tendril of scum passed over his mouth to cut off his warning, and glued his lips shut.

Raven yelled in surprise and darted to the right, dashing gracefully along the wall; Plasmus followed her with his bulbous eyes, and continued to shoot out mire at her, similar to a machine gun's rapid fire. The Boy Wonder wriggled in his futile position but couldn't break free—he was reduced to watching and hoping.

His friend dodged this way and that, flipping over streams of pink. Her breathing was getting heavier, and he knew that if his mentally conjured monster kept this up, she'd be smashed into the ground right next to him.

_R-R-R_

_Courage and the other emotions waited in terror—all of them, that is, except for Anger. She seemed unfazed, as her crimson cloak swished this way and that._

_"This is all your fault!" Courage snarled, hurling the words at her sister with unconfined bitterness. "First Robin—now Raven's going to be stuck!"_

_Rage raised a neat eyebrow and a cocky smile crept over her features like a sinister shadow. However, she spoke not a word._

_"Screw this," Bravery growled, "we're doing things **my** way."_

_The girl pushed away the other feelings and melted away into the air like mist. Anger broke out into quiet snickering as soon as the green-clothed Goth had left._

_"Excellent…"_

_R-R-R_

Raven, as she fled, noted a strange feeling overtaking her body—a curious sensation, as if her limbs had fallen asleep. But how could that be possible?

She glanced down at her feet and jumped as the fabric slithered into a dark, mossy green hue: Courage.

_But I didn't call her_, Raven thought in alarm. _How can this be happening?_

The edges of her cape began to darken, and vines of emerald started to creep up her back. She didn't have the time to sit down and meditate on what was taking place, nor did she have the energy to run away from Plasmus _and_ drive Bravery back behind her mind's walls.

_What am I gonna do?_

Far below, and far behind her, Robin was still trying his best to break out of his shackles of scum—she had come for him…

Maybe she was being too cautious about Courage…if she let that side of her loose, what harm could it do? Absolutely none (well, to her and Robin anyway).

Raven shut her eyelids and concentrated.

_Azarath…_

_**"I'm coming, Robin. Just hold on."**_

_Metrion, Zinthos._

R-R-R

Robin watched in awe as Raven's muscles grew and her legs sped into a blur as she raced over the ramparts—her feet were no longer touching the stone, though she glided swiftly and evaded Plamus' onslaught with ease. A smirk of triumph curled her lips; she released a victorious whoop as she launched herself into the air and planted a kick right on—and through, as she sank into the green film up to her knee—one of his eyes.

The creature thundered its distress, but Raven pushed herself forward and dug right inside Plasmus' body; her dark form drifted deeper within (Robin could see her outline through the rippled muck). A second later, a bizarre chanting in another language echoed in his head, and Plamus burst into onyx flames, burning and fading away. The young, teenage man struggled to his feet—seeing as how he refused to touch the walls Slade had created—and swayed, feeling light-headed.

"WHOO! BOOYAH! C'mon, tell me that was great! Yee-haw!"

Raven whirled to the ground in verdant cyclone. She collided with him in a bone-crushing hug and sent him skidding along the tiles of the labyrinth.

"Oh yeah—did you see that? I did it, I did it!"

She laughed her head off and punched the air in joy.

"Rae…can't…breathe…get off…me…" He wheezed beneath her—the force of her embrace had knocked the wind out of him. What on earth had changed her attitude all of the sudden?

"Ooh, sorry!" She said, and quickly shot up to give him a hand up.

"Thanks," he said. "So, what the hell got you all—what's with the outfit—err—"

Right in front of him, she shrank back to her usual self: Her head bowed, her irises flickered back to purple, and her mantle returned to its navy cast. All questions that had been pressing to blurt out of his mouth were forgotten, and he stood watching her in shock as she peeled back her hood and gave a half-smile.

"Sorry…um…another personality of mine," she offered, and grinned sheepishly (her embarrassed expression was instantly replaced by her flat affect.

Robin's head was about to burst when he recalled a memory of Cyborg recounting one time where he and Beast Boy—using a magical mirror—had been dumped inside Raven's mind. This must have been Raven's tougher, fighter side…

For some reason, his stomach twisted, and he remembered wishing that _he'd_ been the one that had seen how the girl's thought process worked. Instead it had to be his two best friends…and he'd felt more than a little jealous.

A sour taste gathered in his mouth at this recollection, and he turned, stalking away from her.

"Robin?" She asked in surprise. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here," was his cold answer.

"Hey! What is your problem?" Raven's voice sounded strained, as if she were trying to contain her temper. "I just saved you, and your acting like an asshole!"

"You shouldn't have come," he grumbled, and he could imagine the offense she had taken.

"Why not! Your my leader, and my best friend—plus, I'm the only one who can help you out right now! Don't you know what's happened to you?"

"All I know is that Slade's got me stuck in this mind-game—" He chortled harshly at his choice of words, knowing that he sounded like a total jerk, but desperate to be alone. "—and I have no clue how to get out."

"Cyborg said that the dust—"

"You're endangering yourself," he muttered. "Go away. Get out while you still can."

"STOP IT!" She nearly screamed, and laid her hand on his shoulder—she'd been following him—in an attempt to get him to halt.

He snatched her wrist up in a vice-grip and twisted her arm until she drew back.

"I told you to _go away!_ I don't want help, and I'm fine!"

At once a cold, steel like feeling circled his own wrist, and he gasped and backed away.

"Robin?" Raven demanded, almost immediately forgetting their previous argument. "What's going on?"

He bit his lip, massaging his arm in worry.

"I…I don't know—"

"I do," Slade taunted from somewhere behind him, and Raven yelled in horror.

A metal wristband appeared, strapped on so tightly that he thought it might be cutting off his circulation.

"It is the beginning…of your imprisonment."

**To be Continued…**

AHHHH! Don't kill me if it sucked—please, I beg of you! (Ducks back behind desk…then peeks out) Was it okay? Review and tell me, okay? And NO FLAMES!

Thank you.

Rebel


	6. Monsters

Though I've mentioned this countless times, I am going to say it yet again, because I really believe that I deserve it: Someone needs to whack me over the head with something very large and very heavy…

As you guys have probably discovered by now, I have a bit of trouble when it comes to updating, mostly because I keep switching off between being creative, and being stuck with writer's block. 'Tis a problem…so, I'm apologizing again for my aggravating incompetence when it comes to posting new chapters, and will do everything in my power (I'm sure you guys are getting sick of hearing this too, because I keep repeating it like a parrot, but I really AM trying) to get better and balance my schedule to make time for this. Plus, to tell you the truth, I've missed writing on this site, and talking (in a sense) to you guys…and I've missed this story a ton. Moving on: Here's a new chapter for "Alone," after about an age…don't kill me?

Chapter Five: Monsters

There was a blank, buzzing sound echoing in his ears, and a frightened, uneasy feeling that slithered and coiled inside of him like a serpent, before tightening

Robin turned slowly, one hand still grasping and trying to massage feeling back into his wrist, for it had gone numb as soon at the armor had appeared. He paid no heed to Raven's approaching footsteps, nor the protective hand she laid on his shoulder; perhaps she was reminding him that he was not alone any longer, or perhaps she thought she could save him from whatever sick and devilish idea that Slade had next.

"Slade," he murmured, poison flooding that single name.

"Robin," the masked man responded calmly. "I see that you managed to survive your encounter with Plasmus…remarkable ideas for him, I must say…and Raven; here to rescue him?"

There was something about the way Slade commented so lightly on the subject of Raven's presence that made both teenagers uncomfortable, for from the way he seemed so unconcerned, it was as if he hardly believed that her arrival would be of any great consequence.

"Yes," the Goth replied tightly, and she squeezed Robin's shoulder, as if to reassure him that she was right there if he needed her. He ignored it, and instead, raised his wrist to bring the armor into full view.

"What did you do to me? What is this, some sort of trick?"

"I'm surprised, Robin…there's no trick—it's merely a reminder…or don't you remember where you've seen this before?"

The Boy Wonder narrowed his eyes, but set aside his caution for a brief moment to stare hard at the wristband that had so suddenly strapped itself onto his body. A reminder of…what? It was obviously some sort of symbol, but…

The recognition of the single piece of heavy, imprisoning armor struck him in the same way he imagined someone might feel when a flash of lightning struck them dead: A horrified jolt of the heart, and then the miserable, freezing cold that made his skin crawl.

He knew that Raven had finally recognized it as well, from the way he heard her breath catch in her throat, and how her hand had tightened to the point of being painful on his shoulder.

"It brings back such…pleasant memories, doesn't it?" Slade jeered softly, arms folding across his broad chest in triumph.

There was such guilt…so many wretched feelings welling up inside him, each one carrying with it another recollection of that horrible time, where he'd been so blinded by his hated, his aggression, and the utmost fear that was buried beneath those two powerful emotions, that he'd had put everything that he stood and cared for at stake…all for the sake of his stupid pride, and his impossible thirst to prove himself to the rest of the world…and there was one of the victims, standing right behind him. How Raven, or any of the Titans, could look him in the eye and still view him as their honorable and compassionate leader, he had no clue…just recently, he'd been caught up in the old obsession, and he'd threatened to hurt them, because he had been so badly bewitched by the masterful illusions that Slade had woven

"_Why_…?" He whispered plaintively.

There was a pause, as the three of them stood in silence.

And then, far in the distance, Robin heard a rushing sound coming towards them. Raven had noticed it too, he guessed, as she had let go temporarily of his shoulder to look towards the sound. The Boy Wonder shot a brief, suspicious glare at Slade, and was surprised to see that the man had gone.

That couldn't be good.

From out of the shadows, a tidal wave of water came rushing towards them. Robin felt his jaw drop, and Raven gave a somewhat strangled cry as she flung up her hands, trying to cast a spell before they were hit—and a moment too late.

The water crashed down on them, picking them up off their feet and sending them speeding down a tumultuous river. Robin struggled against the current, trying to blink liquid out of his eyes as he searched for Raven amidst the flow. She was swimming and putting up her own fight a couple feet away.

He kicked wildly, trying to keep his head above the surface, while the water swirled around him, trapping him and gushing down his throat, choking his lungs. He couldn't give up—he just had to keep fighting a bit longer, and then…

The water gave a final lurch, and spewed the two of them out, sending them crashing into the ground. Robin sputtered weakly, and vomited up a mouthful of water, trying to collect his bearings.

"Let me guess," Raven said dully, as she picked herself up off the ground from and began wringing her cloak out. "A 'wave of guilt,' right?"

Robin wasn't sure whether to burst out laughing, or scream in disbelief. Slowly, he got to his feet, and shook his head from side to side, beads of water dripping from his hair.

"I can't take much more of this," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"You're telling me," Raven growled, making her way around puddles to where he stood. "The sooner we figure out a way to get rid of Slade, and get out of here, the better."

Robin turned his face away, recalling their earlier argument, right before the armor had appeared, unsure how to respond to a statement like that after his angry reaction.

Raven must have guessed his thoughts.

"Let's walk around a bit, and try to figure out where we are," she suggested, trying her best to change the subject.

Robin nodded mutely, and did so, following Raven's lead.

The two of them shuffled along in complete silence for several long minutes.

"Do you know where you're going?" Robin asked after awhile. Raven shook her head slowly from side to side, pausing to stare hard into the darkness.

"Not exactly…but I think, if we just go a bit farther… There!" The sudden, excited change in her voice startled him a bit, but Robin quickly recovered and moved closer to her, interested.

"What? What is it?"

"Look," Raven said, pointing into the distance. Robin narrowed his eyes, squinting.

There was a door, about ten feet ahead of them.

"What _is_ that?" He murmured.

"I'm not sure," Raven admitted. "But it's a place to start, right?"

He shrugged.

"Might as well check it out."

With brisk, purposeful movements—mostly to hide his feelings of uncertainty and concern—Robin strode forward, leading the way. Raven trailed after him.

As they reached the door, Robin leaned forward and took hold of the handle. At the contact, a heavy jolt went through him, and he gasped in surprise, staggering forward. He would have tripped and crashed into the surface of the door, if not for the gentle hand that grabbed his shoulder at the last moment and pulled him back.

"Thanks," he said gruffly to his friend over his shoulder. Raven nodded, not meeting his eyes.

Taking hold of the handle again—this time without the shock accompanying it—Robin pushed forward; the door creaked loudly on its hinges, opening into darkness.

"Can you see anything?" Robin asked Raven, who shook her head. Robin felt his heart tighten nervously, and pushed past it, letting the side of him that was the detective creep forward.

"What is this place?" Robin murmured to himself, pushing the door open a bit more. Raven followed, eyeing it nervously.

The room was large, and there seemed to be no end as they took a few cautious steps in. There was little light, but even with dim illumination, the two Titans couldn't help but feel a jolt of surprise as they stared.

It was a prison.

Rows of cells lined the walls, and rafters hung overhead for inspection. It was an exact replica of one back in Jump City, with one minor detail: The doors were hanging wide open.

It was completely empty.

Robin swallowed hard.

"I don't understand…" He said quietly, looking about. "What is this place?"

Raven shook her head, unable to give an answer—she seemed just as confused and alarmed as he was.

A chain clinked lightly somewhere in the darkness, followed by the sound of metal slithering across the floor. Robin and Raven exchanged looks, and began to make their way forward quickly.

"Another one of Slade's traps?" Robin murmured. His companion shrugged, frowning.

"I'm not sure…I don't think it is, but… this might be something else. It might be—"

"Well, well, well," jeered a distorted, metallic voice from high above them in the shadows. "I never thought I'd come face to face with you again, kid!"

Robin and Raven's heads snapped up in the direction that the call had come, only for another teen to appear, clad entirely in black aside from the skull white mask that he wore, and the jagged, crimson X splayed across his chest.

Red X.

Robin felt his stomach lurch as the criminal slunk into view, arms crossed; he could imagine the self-satisfied grin that the thief wore beneath the mask, and his face went hot with anger.

"X!" Robin spat, glaring up at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Don't you know?" The thief replied maliciously, his tone one of mock-innocence. "We're in your mind…" He paused thoughtfully, before vanishing from his position on the rafters to reappear, seconds later, in front of the two Titans.

"I'm a part of you, whether you like it or not," he hissed. "I'll _never_ be gone."

And he launched himself towards Robin, who just barely managed to raise a fist in defense as he was knocked backwards.

Raven gave a cry of surprise, and began to move forward, ready to help her friend, but a boulder flew from out of the shadows, slamming full-force into her body and sending her sprawling backwards.

Spitting blood out between gasps for air, the Goth looked up, eyes wide, to see an all familiar figure emerging from the darkness of the prison, still pulling off a shackle from around her own ankle, before she stood calmly, hands placed defiantly on her hips.

"Raven," Terra said, eyes still glowing a fiendish yellow. "What a surprise."

The Titan struggled to her feet, feeling energy rush into her limbs, as she mimicked Terra's stance.

"Likewise," Raven growled.

Terra leapt forward, grinning wickedly.

Off to the side, Robin grunted as a fist connected with his jaw, and ducked to avoid another kick that came his way. Red X backed away, as Robin swung at him with an answering punch, and shook his head, as if he were disappointed.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that if you want to hit me," he remarked. Robin's eyes narrowed, and he jumped forward, closing the distance between the two of them. He moved to the side, swinging his left arm in an uppercut, and when X went to block it, Robin's right fist drove towards the thief's stomach. X jerked to the side at the last minute, narrowly avoiding it and delivered a back fist to Robin's face. The Boy Wonder stumbled backwards at the impact, but, ignoring the small trickle of blood that the hit had caused, ran forwards again.

X was waiting for him with a tornado kick, his heel connecting with the hero's diaphragm. Robin coughed violently, stepping backwards and out of X's range. The thief made no attempt to follow, choosing instead to lazily back flip up to the rafters where he had been waiting for them earlier. Robin, still winded, glanced up towards his enemy for an explanation. X only beckoned, waiting.

Unable to resist the challenge, Robin growled, and, running towards an empty cell, braced the ball of his foot on one of the bars that made up its wall and launched himself into the air, landing neatly in front of Red X.

The villain barely gave him a chance to prepare himself. As Robin got to his feet, X rushed towards him, hand curved to deliver a chop to Robin's neck. The Boy Wonder rolled backwards to gain some distance between them and sprang up, lifting his arm into a middle block to stop the attack. As X's attack slammed uselessly into his wrist, Robin curved his knee upward, to drive it into the thief again. He missed again this time, but as X backed away, Robin charged him again with a series of furious blows.

"Would have thought after training with Slade that you'd fight better," X commented lazily, easily avoiding one of Robin's punches.

The Boy Wonder's face darkened and he doubled his efforts. X only sighed, and continued to dodge.

"Come on, kid, what's wrong? Can't you even win _one_ fight? Or are you really that useless?"

"Shut…up…" Robin threatened between his teeth. Red X burst out, cackling loudly at that.

"Why? It's the truth, isn't it? You never win—and you always screw up and put your team in danger. You couldn't even stop Slade from putting those probes in their bodies. What good are you anyway, if you can't even protect the ones that you care about—"

"SHUT UP!"

Robin raised his fist, feeling fury and anxiety flowing through him, and thundering in his ears; his only thought was to cause Red X as much pain as was possible, and he didn't care what happened, so long as he—

Blinding agony erupted in his right arm, and the hero faltered in agony, as two more pieces of armor crawled up to his shoulder. X laughed loudly again as Robin felt his legs buckle beneath him.

"That's what I'm talking about…"

Below, Raven shattered another barrage of boulders coming towards her, only to narrowly avoid being impaled by a long tendril of rock. She was just moving forward to attack again, when Terra hesitated, glancing upward; and Raven, out of plain curiosity, did the same, and felt her heart jolt as she watched Robin collapse.

Red X was already dashing off, probably escaping before Robin or Raven could retaliate. Terra looked away as Robin fell to his knees, and fixed Raven with a twisted smirk.

"Guess we'll have to wait until next time," Terra spat, slowly melting back into the darkness behind her. Raven had no time to let out a sigh of relief, because in that instant, there came an enraged bellow at the other end of the prison. The Goth reached out towards Robin's still form—he must have fainted—, slowly lifting him down to the ground with her powers. She noticed, in the process, the more recent pieces of armor with concern, but as her new adversaries approached, she had no time to dwell on it.

Raven turned back towards the oncoming enemies, and took a deep breath, steeling herself for whatever was to come.

R-R-R

_Wisdom bit her lower lip, watching as the two monsters advanced on Raven, while the others were arguing bitterly behind her; much to her surprise, Anger had continued to linger, looking on with all the interest of a curious spectator. It disturbed her, but Rage, aside from the advice she had given Raven earlier, and the cryptic, fleeting smiles that passed over her face, showed no signs of trying to interfere._

_"Let me go back!" Courage snapped, raising a fist threateningly. "I can wipe the floor with these creeps, no problem! Besides, it worked last time!"_

_Timid crossed her arms in front of her chest nervously, and eyed the group of girls that were standing off before her._

_"Please…don't fight, guys," she pleaded weakly, but she fell silent, trembling violently, beneath Courage's withering glance._

_"C'mon, now," Love said soothingly, slinging an arm around Timid casually, and eyeing the others reproachfully. "We're all a bit stressed, but maybe—"_

_"Love, I hate to say it, but **shut up**," Courage spat out, turning on the other emotions immediately. "This is really bad, and without us, Raven can't fight off these new weirdoes. She's probably still wiped from entering Robin's mind, and plus, these guys are completely different than what she's used to. If we don't come down to a decision soon, we're all screwed. So—"_

_"All of you! Would you please be quiet!" Wisdom found herself roaring. The other cloaked girls fell silent instantly, and huddled together, regarding her with wide, shocked eyes. Wisdom inhaled shakily, and fiddled with her glasses self-consciously, feeling silly and embarrassed by her reaction._

_"I think I have an idea," she explained slowly, and more calmly._

_Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a smile growing wider and wider by the minute on Anger's face._

R-R-R

Pulsing electricity crackled dangerously, and concrete teeth gnashed together in a smile as Overload and Cinderblock advanced on Raven. The Goth narrowed her eyes determinedly, trying her best to ignore how exhausted she was. Just one more fight, and then maybe she could catch a break…

Robin was laying a ways off, where she had left him. Raven continued to walk backwards in his direction, all the while her hands clenching as she gathered spheres of dark energy. No matter what she was feeling, right now, it didn't matter in the slightest—the important thing was for her to defend Robin, and to get him away from Cinderblock and Overload, so that he could be safe.

After all, that was her original plan in the first place.

She didn't notice the transformation her body was undergoing until she glanced over her shoulder at Robin again; and her eyes immediately latched onto the tips of her cape which were steadily going a bright, sunny yellow.

_What?! Wisdom? NO! This can't keep happening—!_

Wisdom awoke in full glory, her owl-like eyes opening to take in the sight of the creatures making their way closer and closer to her. Interestingly enough, she felt calm even as Cinderblock let out a warning growl, and rose into the air, arms lifted high above her head. Her eyes went pitch black, as they always did at the onset of a spell, and the familiar words spilled forth from her throat with a renewed force.

_"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"_

Ebony power surged forth, taking on the shape of a tremendous bird, and as the monsters hesitated, taken aback, the bird encircled the pair, swallowing them whole and drowning them in darkness. It receded, little by little, until it had vanished completely, along with Overload and Cinderblock.

Wisdom felt a small burst of pride, before returning to the ground, and allowing Raven control once more.

The Titan nearly keeled over as she flew back into her body. Her powers had been strained to their very extent, and she was completely drained of any sort of energy. It was all she could do to drag herself over to where Robin lay, and hoist him up, circling his free arm around her shoulders. Summoning the very last of her strength, Raven hauled him over to the exit of the prison, passing over the threshold, and slamming the door shut behind them.

Robin moaned slightly as Raven set him on the ground again and sat down beside him, his mask contracting as he stirred. Raven watched him tiredly, unable to do much of anything else.

"Raven?" He whispered.

"I'm here," she told him, trying her best to sound comforting. "It's okay—you collapsed back in the prison, and I got you out. Are…" She paused to take a deep breath, trying to stay conscious herself. "Are you okay?"

Robin laughed deliriously.

"I'm perfect," he sang quietly, "because _you're_ with me."

The words hung heavily in the air, and Raven stared down at him, dumfounded, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly. She felt like a complete moron, but she was too shocked to even think of a good response to something like that.

Robin didn't seem to take notice, and as he slipped back into unconsciousness, she heard him murmur softly: "You're so beautiful…"

The Goth sat back on her heels, still watching her friend with alarm. It was her imagination, it had to be—yes…the whole thing had never even happened. It was complete and total wishful thinking on her part.

_**Wishful** thinking, eh?_ A voice whispered in the back of her head, making Raven blush all the more brilliantly.

Her cloak tinged a pale shade of lavender, just as her cheeks flushed, and her heartbeat picked up.

Raven took a deep breath and banished all emotions, allowing them to melt away like snow on a warm day. She couldn't afford to react to something like this, especially when Robin probably didn't have half a clue what he was saying. And it wasn't as if she'd ever been attracted to him before now…she was just getting all caught up in the romance of the two of them having to constantly rely on one another under such drastic circumstances.

At least, that's what she was trying to convince herself of.

Raven sighed and looked back at Robin, noticing that his hair was sticking to his forehead in sweaty clumps, and gently brushed it back, her hand trailing down to stroke the side of his face carefully.

_Poor Robin…he needs a break more often…_

She wasn't even sure what she was doing, but she found herself leaning down, so that their faces were very close together, their lips only inches apart… And withdrew with a sigh a moment later, shaking her head.

She couldn't afford to be weak right now, for Robin's sake, and for her own.

Even if it meant denying that she felt anything for him other than friendly concern.

**To be Continued…**

Hey! Hope that was good for all of you; I've really missed this story, so there will be more updates coming up, and a lot sooner than the last time that I posted, I can guarantee that. Please review—it'll be great to hear from you guys!

Later!

Rebel


	7. New Nightmares

Yes, it took me awhile. But you know what? After looking over everything, I've just realized that I only have a couple more chapters left to write for this story! It's weird, how fast it flies by, right? Man… I'd be disappointed, except for the fact that… (drumroll) this is a trilogy! So, I'll be getting to work on the next installment pronto! Again, I'm sorry about the delay. I've bee working my fingers to the bone—and I've already written the next two chapters in advance! That way, there shall be immediate updates, and there won't be any delay about the ending! I hope you guys are enjoying this fic…I feel bad, because I think, because it takes me so stinking long to upload new chapters, that I've lost a considerable amount of readers. So I guess I'm going to have to work on that… Aside from that, there's not much else to say!

Chapter Six: New Nightmares

"Do you think they're okay?"

"If you ask me that question again, I'm gonna blast your green butt," Cyborg muttered, rubbing sleep from his eyes and straightened in his chair.

"It's been, maybe, ten hours—"

"Three," Cyborg snapped underneath his breath.

"—could be dead, dude, or hurt, or, like, I don't know—"

"Who has died?" Starfire asked innocently, entering the room. Cyborg winced and, grabbing the nearest object, which happened to be a plate, chucked it at Beast Boy's head. Beast Boy narrowly avoided it by disappearing with a squeak behind the couch, and Cyborg turned his attentions to Starfire, who was now looking considerably alarmed.

"Nothing's wrong. Everybody's fine."

"Oh. All is well?"

"Yup. No problems here, so far."

Starfire nodded slowly, taking his words in, as she drifted over to where he sat beside the main monitor.

"What news of friends Robin and Raven?"

Beast Boy emerged from the couch's shelter to raise an eyebrow at Cyborg, who threw him a filthy look.

"Everything seems to be okay right now… Who checked on him last?"

Beast Boy shrugged.

"I did. 'Bout an hour ago, I think."

"May I go see him?" Starfire asked, looking anxiously back and forth between their faces. Cyborg gave her a warm smile, and got to his feet.

"Yeah, definitely. I'll come with you."

Starfire grinned nervously, looking almost apprehensive, and Cyborg placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"They're probably fine. Come on."

He took her gently by the arm and led her back into the hallway, pausing only to shoot a warning look in Beast Boy's direction just before the door closed.

The closer they got to the infirmary, the more Cyborg became steadily aware that Starfire seemed to grow more and more troubled, much to his immense confusion.

"It is nothing," she insisted earnestly when he called her on it, and gave him a wide, somewhat tremulous smile. She must have seen, based on his doubtful expression though, that her excuse didn't do anything in the way of convincing him, and she tried again.

"I am simply concerned for Robin."

"Aren't we all?" Cyborg replied calmly, offering a soothing grin as he unlocked the door to the infirmary. "Seriously, Star, if Raven's with him, he'll be just fine."

Starfire nodded brightly.

"Yes. You are right, of course. I did not mean to seem as if I were questioning her."

"I know," Cyborg said, leading her inside. "I know what it's like to feel that way. We all have, I'm pretty sure, at one point or another."

Despite Beast Boy expressing his concerns earlier, Robin seemed perfectly fine, still lying peacefully in the bed where they had put him. The monitor beeped occasionally, showing his heart rate, and mental state. All in all, Cyborg thought to himself with a note of relief that he was surprised at, everything seemed to be okay.

Starfire, during this time, had drifted over beside the bed to stare concernedly at him, one hand brushing away the hair that was sticking to his forehead.

"See? He's okay. Rae's going to be out in no time at all, and he'll be back before you know it."

Starfire laughed slightly.

"I suppose it was rather foolish of me to doubt."

"We all have our moments," Cyborg said casually, brushing it off. "C'mon; let's get back to see what Beast Boy's up to—"

And that was when one of the monitors began to beep urgently.

R-R-R

"Ugh…my head…"

"You're awake?"

Robin's vision trembled uncertainly in the darkness, before his eyes cleared, and he found himself gazing up at Raven.

"Yeah, I'm up," he told her, giving her a gentle smile, and was immediately surprised to see the furious blush creeping up on her cheeks, before she drew back.

Weird.

Slowly, Robin began to sit up, but was almost nearly bowled over again by the agony that pounded through his skull, and the slight pinched, burning sensation in his left arm. In spite of his best efforts, a groan of pain escaped, and he slipped, falling backwards; Raven caught him right before he slammed back into the ground, and, planting one hand firmly on his back, guided him into an upright position.

"You okay?" She asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah," he said cautiously, breathing and moving slowly in the hopes of alleviating some of the pain. It worked a little bit. "What happened?" He looked around, catching sight of their surroundings, and the door, which was a ways off.

"How much do you remember?" Raven prompted. Robin thought hard—as hard as his headache would allow him, anyway.

"We were in a prison, I think?" He said, the words coming out more like a question, as he glanced at Raven for affirmation. She nodded; a sign to continue.

"And…X was there?"

"And Terra."

"We were fighting, right?"

"Right. Something happened with you and X. You fainted…and you gained another piece of armor."

Robin stared at his arm, noticing with a grimace that there was, indeed, metal as well as a black sleeve creeping up to his shoulder now. At the rate he was going, how long would it be until his entire body was covered with the old uniform, just like had Slade had warned? And what would happen then?

He almost didn't want to know the answer.

Raven was examining his body carefully, poking and prodding softly at his arms and legs. Robin blushed, glad that she was so occupied that she didn't see.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking you; where are you hurt?"

She looked up from where she'd been checking his wrist, her deep purple eyes catching and locking with his for the briefest of moments, and Robin mentally stumbled, as he struggled to remember how to speak.

"I'm…I'm okay," he lied. "It's just a small headache, that's all."

The eyes narrowed with doubt, but Raven withdrew, trusting him for the time being.

"All right."

"What do we do now?" Robin asked, staring forlornly at the black scenery again. Raven bit her lower lip, thinking.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes," Robin replied immediately, a little defensive.

"Let's keep going," she suggested, helping him to his feet anyway despite his protests.

"Any reason? Robin asked, gritting his teeth as he swayed a bit, before finding temporary balance.

"Before we leave, I want to find out more about Slade's presence. Just because I can probably get you out doesn't mean the same for him," Raven told him gravely. "Otherwise, you might just slip right back into the coma. So I want to see if we can find anything."

"Good idea," Robin said softly, as the idea dawned on him. Raven gave him a quick smile and, with a jerk of her head, motioned for Robin to follow her lead.

Their footsteps resounded in the dark, as they trailed along wearily, eyes struggling to pierce the shadows, in the hopes of finding some sort of escape or freedom from the gloom. Robin's headache, while still continuing to linger, began to ease up after a bit, and his mood improved somewhat.

"We're going to get out of here," Raven told him at one point, looking back over her shoulder and noticing the change that had come over him with a hint of relief.

"Of course," Robin replied, smiling back at her.

She paused, thinking, before saying in as best a joking voice as she could manage:

"Damn Slade, for sticking us in here, huh?"

Robin laughed a little, massaging the muscles in his trapped arm in an attempt to restore some feeling to the area.

"If I ever see that creep again, I'm going to banish him to another dimension, or…kill him, or something."

Robin grinned, but something odd and unfamiliar stirred in his heart, something mysterious and startlingly potent.

"You can have the first shot, if you want; I'll hold him and you p—"

Robin wasn't quite sure what he'd done at first, it had happened so fast. All knew was that as Raven was speaking, he'd felt a blinding hatred run through him, and had moved towards her, his armored hand raised high, and from there it was all a blur.

And then Raven was sprawled on the ground, holding her cheek with one hand, staring up at him in fear and pain.

"Oh God, Raven," he muttered, rushing to kneel at her side. "Are you okay? I—I don't—"

She flinched as he reached for her, and that single action froze him.

"I…Raven…Raven, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," she murmured shakily, as he folded his arms around her and helped her to her feet. She hugged him briefly, and then backed away, eyes roving across his face.

"What is it?"

"You're back."

Robin blinked.

"'I'm back'? What do you mean?"

"You didn't hit me," she explained. Robin felt even more perplexed now.

"Of course I did, Raven. It was terrible, and I don't know why I did it, but—"

"It wasn't you," she repeated, louder this time. "I saw your face right when I turned towards you. It was changed. It wasn't you."

She took a breath, and went on.

"It reminded me of what Slade said, about how the wrist band was the beginning of your imprisonment… I can't quite figure out what he meant by that, but I think that the pieces appear when you do something that Slade would want, or act like him…and maybe…" She bit her lip, looking uncomfortable as she continued in a much softer voice, "he's controlling you at some points with the armor…"

Robin felt nauseated at the idea.

"You think he's making me do things?"

"Just this one time," Raven said quickly, reassuring him. "But…I don't know…I'm not sure what you might do next time."

Robin felt a surge of determination run through him, and he stepped forward, catching hold of Raven's hand.

"There won't be a next time," he stated solemnly. "I won't let him control me, and I won't let him hurt you through me. And I definitely won't let him win. We're going to get through this together, I know it!"

He said this with such fervent passion that he didn't even notice another flush of color suffusing her cheeks. Of course, as soon as he was finished, he noticed with a jolt that he was actually holding Raven's hand, and felt a thrill race through him…and then, immediately embarrassed at the fact that he was still holding it, dropped it.

But even as they began moving forward again, his hand still tingled. Whether Raven believed it or not, he had meant every word. She might never know, but as far as he was concerned, he would never let Slade hurt her; he loved her too much to ever let Slade get the chance to attack her, and it killed him that he'd hit her, and that she'd flinched when he'd drawn closer to her.

R-R-R

It took about ten minutes of walking before Robin noticed that they had stumbled into a new area. It had grown darker, if that was even possible, and Raven had resorted to using her powers to trap whatever remaining light was nearby into a small sphere to guide them. The air had grown mustier, and as they traveled farther and farther, dust and cobwebs began to block their path.

"Where are all these cobwebs coming from?" Raven asked, curious, and Robin shrugged, pulling his bo-staff from his belt to hack a curtain of filth out of their path.

"Not sure."

Raven sneezed once, twice, and Robin laughed a little, even though it caused him to suck in a lungful of grime.

"Bless you."

There was no reply. Robin paused, in the middle of hacking another ten or so cobwebs away, and looked over his shoulder to where Raven stood, concentrating.

"Raven? What's—?"  
"Do you hear music?" She cut in, puzzled. Robin, surprised into silence, listened. It was distant, almost inaudible, but Robin could definitely hear something, a pleasant, tinkling melody.

"That's really weird," He admitted after a minute, brow scrunching. Where do you think it's coming from?"

They exchanged looks.

"Come on," Raven said, striding forward with Robin on her heels, struggling through the drapes of webs.

The inviting music faded and grew louder at different intervals as they drew closer; at some points, Robin thought he could hear a voice bellowing, but he blamed it on his imagination. It had to be. There was no one else here but the two of them.

Well, Slade too, but he preferred not to think about that too much.

Eventually, the music swelled with such volume, that Robin was sure they were almost there. And yet, as they did so, there was something about it that seemed so hauntingly familiar, it was disturbing. His steps slowed, even as Raven hurried forth, and for the briefest of moments, he wasn't sure he wanted to go any farther.

But then, a light appeared up ahead; it was so welcoming after the hours of nothing but darkness that Robin momentarily forgot his uneasiness and raced towards it alongside Raven, passing through, and appearing in the most unlikely of places.

They were standing in the inside of a circus tent.

R-R-R

Raven blinked, her pupils contracting as she struggled to take in the vibrant surroundings. Slowly, her eyesight adjusted: Bright multi-colored stripes made up the walls of the tent, and there were benches upon benches filled with excited audience members cheering and laughing the antics of different performers, while gasping at the more daring attractions. In the center of the ring, the ringleader looked on, applauding wildly as if to prompt the audience, while a girl who had been swallowing knives and fire exited with a dramatic bow. She skipped right by them on her way out, her eyes sliding over and past them without a hint of emotion. She wasn't the only one; out of the hundreds of people packed in the tent, performers and audience alike, not a single one had turned to stare at them since they entered.

Like they weren't even there.

"What is this?" She muttered, looking over at Robin to see what his reaction was to all of this. He wasn't even looking at her though, just staring around at the scene with a blank, frightened expression, as if he had just drifted into a nightmare.

If he was worried, it had to mean that they still weren't safe.

The ringleader had returned to the center of the ring, now shouting something about the bold act that they were all about to witness; a trapeze escapade without a net, by none other than the daring, the talented, the incredible Flying Graysons!

The crowd went wild as a man and woman appeared at the foot of two ladders opposite of one another, and climbed up to where the trapeze was waiting. They seemed nice enough, waving and grinning at the audience and at one another. As both of them reached the top, the woman suddenly leapt forward and flew through the air to snatch hold of the trapeze's handle. The man joined not long after, the two of them swinging gracefully and twisting through the air with natural ease. Raven even found herself getting lost once or twice in the magic of the performance. While it was amazing, she still saw no reason why this was here in Robin's mind, why they had been led here in the first place, or why, for that matter, was Robin so—?

Gunshots erupted, and Raven started.

_SNAP!_ The wires holding the trapeze up began to split and separated, and Raven gasped, horrified.

"It's Tony Zucco!" Someone screamed for all to hear, and the ringleader, staring up at the man and woman, looked as though he were about to be sick.

The two trapeze artists hung in mid-air for a suspended moment, as the wires finally snapped, before they began to plummet towards the ground, while the audience screamed in terror. Raven watched, dismayed, and looked away at the last minute, unable to bear the sight of the man and woman hitting the ground…

Her eyes latched onto a small boy standing at the edge of the tent. He couldn't have been more than eight or nine, with dark hair ruffled untidily in every direction and would have been adorable, had not his blue eyes been wide with fear.

There was a loud, disgusting crack behind her, and the boy's mouth fell open in a scream.

"NOOOOO!"

In the style of a bad dream, the scene around her melted into darkness once more, the cries of the audience, the strange little boy, all of it fading; Raven, shaken, looked at Robin, and found him staring at the ground, his face stark white.

"Robin?" She asked uncertainly, taking a step closer to him, and his eyes darted up to her face. He was trembling.

"Robin, what was that?" Raven pressed, feeling her heart twist, when he didn't answer.

"Robin," she said again, "What was—?"

_Click, click, click…_

Both Titans glanced up towards the ceiling to see hundreds of different gears moving and meshing together. Raven temporarily forgot her question, and raised an eyebrow in bemusement.

"Let me guess," she said dryly. "The gears turning in your head?"

She looked over at Robin, to see if he was laughing or looked any better; if anything, he looked even more drained than before.

"I don't think so," he whispered. "I-I think…"

There was a loud crack behind them, followed by a cry of pain, and both Titans looked to see a darkened room, lit only by light from large plasma screens mounted on the wall that were currently monitoring four different people's blood streams. A teenager lay crumpled on the floor, panting.

It was Robin.

And Slade was kneeling over him, cruelty and frustration reflected in his exposed eye.

"I made you my apprentice," Slade was snarling, kneeling down to grabbing hold of the other Robin's head roughly. On the other side of the room, Raven felt Robin stiffen next to her, and she felt her eyes widening, her stomach lurching.

"All my knowledge, all my power, all for you! But the only thing you care about is your worthless little friends!"

He released Robin and turned his back on him, leaving him shaking and quietly groaning in pain on the floor.

"Stop."

Raven jumped, nearly forgetting where she was, and looked over at Robin, who was quaking uncontrollably now.

"Stop it," he was muttering. "I don't want to see anymore."

The scene ebbed and flowed as the previous one had, the darkness swallowing it whole, and leaving the two of them alone again. Robin shivered, wrapping his arms tightly around his body unconsciously, and sank to his knees.

"So now you know," he said coldly, addressing her. "Now you know what it was like, first-hand."

Raven was speechless.

"I don't want to keep seeing it again, not ever again," he said softly. "No more…"

R-R-R

He didn't care that he was trapped in his mind, or that Raven was standing right next to him; all Robin knew was that he wanted to be left alone, and that he didn't want to be forced to relive these miserable, these torturous moments over and over again for the single purpose of tormenting himself. All he wanted was to forget, as frail as a hope it was; he didn't want to remember.

Arms folded around his body unexpectedly, causing Robin to jerk violently in surprise as Raven sank down beside him, hugging him tightly. Then he relaxed, exhausted, afraid, but for the first time since the dust, felt calm and almost safe.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I know…"

"I'm so sorry, Raven," he muttered into her shoulder, holding onto her. "I didn't mean to get you involved…to let any of this…"

"Shh…it's gone," she murmured soothingly. "It's gone, and all of that's over. It happened a long time ago. Please, let it go."

Robin felt his eyes begin to water in spite of himself, and his shoulders and body began to shake, wracked with dry sobs.

"I'm…I'm so stupid. He's right…he's always right. I'm a bad—"

"No you're not," Raven told him, voice rising slightly. "Don't say that. He doesn't know anything about you, he doesn't care about you. You're better than him, so much better, and don't forget it."

"I'm sorry…I never wanted any of this…I'm sorry…" Robin whispered into her shoulder.

"It's all right, Robin," she told him tenderly, stroking his hair as he continued to cry quietly. "It's all right, I promise… _I'm_ here…"

Robin continued to cling to her for a few minutes longer, before pulling back to look at her face. Raven smiled, silently regretting that he had moved away so quickly, but a second later, her eyes widened as he leaned forward again, hands curled gently around her shoulders…

And kissed her.

**To be Continued…**

Ha! How'd you like that ending? I was debating whether or not to end it at Raven's last line, but then I decided that this would transition better into the next chapter.

Coming up next: Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy discover a disturbing problem with the dust, Raven and Robin get closer, Slade plans more nastiness, and something awful begins happen.

So, new chapter will be coming very soon. Please review, and I'll see you guys around!

Later—

Rebel


	8. Dilemmas

Ugh. Just got over a four day bout with a fever, and it wasn't pleasant. The worst part is that started on the weekend, so I was stuck inside, sick all of Saturday and Sunday. Blegh; I hate it when that happens. But, I'm all better now, and it's freezing up here. There's only an inch of snow on the ground, and it's SO COLD! Plus, of course, I've got my grade musical I'm going to have to start working on, so I'm going to get busy pretty soon. If it helps, though, I've been trying to figure out a posting schedule so I won't have to keep making false promises, and then leave you all hanging for another couple of months. I feel so bad when I do that… So, anyway, enough of my blabbering. On with the chapter!

Chapter Seven: Dilemmas

"There's something wrong," Cyborg said, voice quaking as he re-entered in the room. Beast Boy, spread across the couch, had nearly been asleep but at these words, sat straight up. Cyborg didn't even look at him as he crossed over to the main computer and switched it on, typing furiously as he opened multiple windows. Starfire had returned from the medical wing as well but she lingered in the doorway, and Beast Boy was frightened to see that there were tears welling up in her eyes.

"Dudes," he began uncertainly. "What's wrong? Is Robin okay? Is it Raven? What happened?"

Cyborg gestured for him to join him at the computer, and Beast Boy did so, feeling his heart throbbing nervously in his chest. Yeah, he had known that whatever was up was seriously wrong, but at the same time, had been clinging to the futile hope that, in spite of whatever Slade had been up to this time, Raven would be able to help prevent and unravel it, so she could bring Robin back.

He'd been focusing on this outlook, because he didn't want to listen to the little voice in the back of his head that listed the multiple possibilities of just what could go wrong.

"Is Robin okay?" Beast Boy asked again, voice growing louder. "Is it something with Raven, or—?"

"Shut up and look," Cyborg growled, so angry that Beast Boy fell silent and stared up at the screens where a picture of Robin's brain was being displayed, while little bars popped up on the sides, containing various pieces of information.

"He is receding," Starfire whispered, coming up beside him. "That is what Cyborg says."

"Receding?" Beast Boy looked back at Cyborg, who was staring determinedly at the screen. "What do you mean?"

"Something's happening to him," Cyborg said tightly. "Starfire and I were checking on him, and the monitor was displaying something weird. So I looked into it…" He trailed off grimly, and Beast Boy felt himself begin to panic.

"And what? What? What's wrong with him?"

"I thought the problem was that he's been in his mind too long already," Cyborg explained. "And it is. It's definitely one of the factors. But something else is in there, and whatever it is, it's causing him to sink deeper and deeper into unconsciousness."

"Which means?" Beast Boy demanded.

"If it keeps up, he's going to be in a coma—permanently!" Cyborg roared, his temper snapping.

Starfire gave a muffled sob, as Beast Boy stared at the screen, unable to wrap his mind around it.

"But…but what about Raven?" He whispered.

"I'm not sure," Cyborg murmured, calmer now and looking ashamed of his outburst, and at the fact that Starfire was now crying harder because of it. He turned away from the computer at last to look mournfully at the two of them. "For all I know, her going into his head could be the reason why this is all happening."

"That can't be possible," Beast Boy argued stupidly, unwilling to accept that idea.

"Perhaps this is of Slade's doing?" Starfire suggested.

"Until something more happens, we're completely in the dark," Cyborg muttered. "All we can do for now is guess…and hope that nothing's gone horribly wrong."

"It's got to be Slade," Beast Boy protested. "We all know it is!"

"So what?" Cyborg said listlessly. "Even if it is, there's nothing we can do about it…" He sighed and shook his head. "Whatever's going on, it's up to Raven and Robin now to figure it out.

Beast Boy bit his lip, looking back at the screen again.

"It's going to be okay," he said aloud, although it was more to himself than anybody else in the room anyway. "Everything's going to be okay."

He ignored the seed of doubt that had crept into his heart.

R-R-R

Even though his ears were ringing, and his palms were sweating just a little bit from nerves, Robin was still unable to believe he was actually kissing Raven.

No, scratch that: He couldn't believe that he'd gotten the guts to kiss her in the first place.

His lips pressed gently against hers, his arms coming around to circle her waist ever so carefully, like she were made of glass. At first, aside from the widening of her eyes, Raven offered no response much to Robin's horror. He had been so sure that he had made the wrong assumption and that he was now completely humiliating himself; and he'd just been ready to pull away and begin apologizing profusely, when her hands came around to tighten on his shoulders.

And then he was no longer afraid, but held her close, his mind spinning on its axis. They kissed for a moment longer, before Raven jerked suddenly, and sprang away like she'd been burned.

A long silence followed, full of uncomfortable, darting glances in each other's direction.

Finally, Raven swallowed hard and managed to choke out:

"What…what was that?"

Robin shifted his eyes from his shoes to look at Raven, half-smiling.

"Good?" He asked her hopefully.

Raven blinked, before guffawing loudly.

"Are you kidding? It—" She stopped suddenly. Robin eyed her curiously, and she cleared her throat and continued in a gravely voice:

"Why did you do that?"

"I don't know," he admitted, sounding surprisingly calm. Raven looked suspicious, and he laughed a little self-consciously.

"I guess it was a…thank you?"

"Huh?"

"For saving me," he explained. "I never got a chance to say thank you earlier, so—"

"You kissed me," Raven concluded flatly, but her eyes were twinkling mischievously just a little bit.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, I think…?" He sighed. "All I wanted to do was to show you how grateful I was that you risked a lot to come and help me. I'm sorry I didn't when you first arrived, and that I yelled at you because of it."

Raven shook her head.

"It's fine. I almost forgot about it until you brought it up just now."

Robin smiled tightly, even though he knew she was just trying to ease some of the tension that had been there earlier.

Silence lapsed between them for a moment, as they sat, purposefully looking away from another, before Raven cleared her throat.

"And by the way…"

Robin gave her a curious look.

"It _was_ good."

Robin stared at her in disbelief, before a broad smile spread across his face, right before it gave way to laughter.

R-R-R

_"I knew it!" Love sighed dreamily, twirling around in circles while the other emotions looked on. "I knew from the very beginning that he loved her!"_

_"She almost lost control," Wisdom pointed out practically, even though she was smiling as well._

_"Who cares?" Love demanded airily, landing in front of Wisdom with a final spin. "She knows that he cares, and vice versa. It's so beautiful!"_

_Courage made a face, and Joy punched her jokingly in the arm._

_"You can't fool me," she giggled, beaming. "You're just as happy for her as the rest of us._

_"**Almost** all of us," Courage grumbled underneath her breath, shooting a glare at Anger, who was standing a ways off, watching them. "Don't you think it's weird she's stuck around this long?"_

_The other emotions glanced at one another, nodding slowly in unanimous agreement. Courage, satisfied, turned in Anger's direction, who saw her coming and smiled in amusement._

_"Something bothering you?" She asked pleasantly, as the other girl approached._

_"Yeah—why are you still here, and what do you want?" Courage snapped, getting right in her face. Anger continued to grin in an infuriatingly superior manner._

_"You still haven't caught on? I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed."_

_Courage took a step backwards, her expression of loathing never flickering._

_"You sound like Slade," she spat in disgust, and began to walk away to rejoin the others._

_"Birds of a feather," Anger sang, not the least bit concerned._

_Wisdom watched in alarm as Courage's face twisted in aggravation, and before she could speak up, Courage had whipped around, charging back towards Anger with one fist held high._

_It was over in a split second; when Courage was within reaching distance, Anger grabbed hold of her raised arm, jerking it violently. Courage was sent flying through the air to sprawl on the floor in an undignified heap._

_Anger wiped her brow of imaginary sweat with the back of her hand._

_"You guys sure put up a fight. She nearly had me!"_

_Courage growled furiously, but Timid scurried over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder._

_"Don't let her get to you," Wisdom said aloud, staring evenly at Anger. "She's not worth it."_

_Anger pretended to look offended, but her four red eyes twinkled merrily._

_"Don't be so mean! I'm just another one of the girls!" She cackled. Wisdom remained severe, watching her dispassionately._

_"I want to know what you're doing here."_

_"And I want this inferior little world to be destroyed once and for all," Anger shot back, bored. "You don't always get what you wish for."_

_Wisdom didn't speak, but continued watching her. Anger stared back for a moment, before smiling to herself, as if fondly remembering a private joke someone had told her._

_"What?" Wisdom asked sharply. Anger raised an eyebrow._

_"Temper, temper. Wouldn't want to lose it, would you?" She added wickedly. "I was just thinking…"_

_Love was tapping her on the shoulder, and Wisdom turned to look at her._

_"Something's up."_

_"I'll be right there," Wisdom said, slightly distracted, but Love shook her head insistently._

_"No, it's something bigger, and a lot more dangerous."_

_Wisdom raised an eyebrow, momentarily forgetting that Anger was still watching them._

"_How dangerous?"_

_The severity in Love's eyes said it all, though._

"_We were thinking that we could, you know, go somewhere else, so that we can focus our strength in full," Love added. Wisdom didn't miss the way her eyes flickered hesitantly over at Anger, behind them._

_"Okay," Wisdom said underneath her breath. "But we need to leave someone here, in case Raven comes."_

_"Already taken care of," Love replied instantly, as she started making her way back towards the group. "Hurry up! We haven't got a lot of time."_

_"Coming," Wisdom told her, following, but unable to ignore how Anger had straightened up in anticipation, her eyes glowing in fiendish delight._

R-R-R

"So…was it your first kiss?"

Raven frowned, breaking her meditative trance as she opened her eyes to look over at him. Robin was sitting cross-legged as well, watching her pensively, but with just a trace of eagerness as well. The two of them had chosen to stay put for a little bit, to rest, before heading on.

"What?"

"Was that your first kiss?"

Raven's face reddened—she was doing that a lot lately.

"You're still talking about it?"

"I just want to know," Robin said quickly, albeit desperately. "That's all."

"Why does it matter?" Raven muttered, feeling embarrassed, and trying to stall for time as she tried to decide whether or not she wanted to answer his question.

"I just want to know," he repeated insistently.

"You're making a really big deal out of all of this."

"I've never kissed a girl before," Robin blurted. "This was my first. Ever."

Raven blinked, feeling a little lightheaded as the impact of the words sank in.

"Really?" She all but whispered. He nodded.

"I guess you could say…" He was extremely red now but pressed on. "I guess you're the only one that I wanted to kiss."

Raven felt her eyes widen.

"Do you mean it?"

He nodded solemnly.

"Cross my heart."

Raven hesitated, staring down at her hands folded in her lap, before sighing.

"Yeah. It was my first kiss too."

Robin's face lit up with a brilliant smile, and she grinned back, aware that she probably looking like a lovesick moron—but it was worth it. It was weird, in a sense, to think that he had liked her for so long without her knowing it…and yet it also made her heart soar, realizing that she was the only one, and very well might be for the rest of his life.

"I…" Raven took a deep, somewhat shuddering breath, trying to see if she could say it. Robin glanced up from where he was twiddling his thumbs.

"Did you say something?"

Too risky, too risky; she'd flipped when he'd kissed her, and she couldn't risk it now when their situation was too fragile, still uncertain. Her throat closed, those three little words sticking there like glue. She could only shake her head.

"I should probably go back to meditating," she croaked out. Robin stared at her, seeming suspicious and a little disappointed, and she coughed nervously.

"Okay," he said finally, looking away.

"One thing," she added. He looked back in her direction, and Raven resisted the urge to giggle.

"I've been wasting a lot of energy, so it might take awhile. And…I might be out of it. So, if you can't wake me up or anything for a bit…don't worry," she finished lamely.

"No problem," he said, beaming. "I could probably use some rest myself."

Raven chuckled, and, closing her eyes, began slipping into her subconscious, struggling to focus on her breathing instead of the fact that Robin was sitting only a foot or two away, and that she could feel him watching her.

R-R-R

Robin hadn't been this nervous since he'd accidentally tripped over a stool and broken one of Bruce's favorite vases a little after his first month in Wayne Manor. Back then, it hadn't been so bad, and Bruce had actually even laughed about it when Robin explained the fall in detail.

This, however, was entirely different manner. Just earlier today—he was pretty sure it was the same day that he'd slipped into the coma, but he couldn't be sure, it felt like so much longer—he'd been sitting with his head under the faucet with a splitting headache, half-wondering if Raven would ever find out that he liked her, much less like him in return. Everything that was happening felt amazing, but also surreal, and he was afraid that at any moment he'd wake up and find himself back in his room, all of this nothing more than an unpleasant, but also beautiful, dream.

He could tell that Raven had already slipped into focus from her breathing, and from the way that her body barely moved, even when she inhaled. He sat, watching her serene expression tenderly.

She had come all this way to save him from Slade's clutches; she had stayed, even after he'd yelled at her and hit her, and had hugged him and empathized with him when they'd stumbled into his memories. He'd kissed her, for crying out loud. And she had kissed back. These actions, these shared moments, meant so much to him. But what about Raven's thoughts on the whole matter. She liked him, he knew that much, but that did mean she wanted to be together like he hoped they could? And even if she did, would it even be possible for her, considering her circumstances?

On that matter, what about his own problems? Slade was still afoot, he was pretty sure, and he knew that Slade would try to strike at him in any possible manner, not to mention all the other enemies they had created during all these years fighting crime in Jump City. Or what about Batman, even? If they knew that Robin cared about Raven, they could use her as bait, and then, once he was lured, he would be used as bait in turn to target Bruce.

He liked Raven, liked her more than any other girl he had ever met. Heck, he probably loved her. But there were too many risks, too many chances that he wasn't willing to take, or gamble.

For once in his life, he wanted to be selfish, and not care about the consequences, or how it might affect other people, but simply focus on the fact that he cared about her. Yet still he knew that, as a hero, and as Bruce had calmly stated it many times before, they couldn't afford to have relationships.

Love was a luxury that he was never supposed to have.

"What a pity," someone drawled behind him. Robin straightened and jumped to his feet, looking around in the darkness.

"Where are you?" He hissed, anger rising in his throat like bile. "Where are you, Slade?"

As if summoned by his name, Slade stepped out of the shadows, arms crossed, eye glinting with malice.

"She saw into your memories," Slade said simply. Robin gritted his teeth and nodded.

"So what?"

"She certainly seems to care about your well-being," he observed, voice laden with a level of intrigue that made the hair on the back of Robin's neck stand up. He paused, glaring.

"Can you read my thoughts?"

"Only too easily," Slade gloated. Robin winced, and looked over his shoulder at Raven.

"You love her," Slade stated smugly. "How…wonderful."

It was like he'd been punched in the gut. Robin found it difficult to breathe through his panic.

"Don't. You. Dare."

Slade watched him with interest. Robin, growing more worked up, crouched into a fighting stance, hands clenching into fists.

"I won't let you hurt her. I won't let you use her against me."

"It's too late for that, my boy."

"I WON'T!" Robin roared.

Slade shook his head, laughing quietly to himself. Robin's rage dwindled into doubt, his mouth going very dry as he choked out the next question.

"Did you know?"

Slade's satisfied silence was enough of an answer.

"She's not involved in any of this," Robin said, the words spilling out of his mouth in his state of anxiety. "She's not a part of our fight."

"She is indeed," Slade corrected him. "She became a part the minute she came to rescue you from the dust."

"No…"

Slade walked closer, and Robin's fists shot up again, although he felt weaker, and less confident.

"How can you possibly protect her from me?" Slade asked mockingly. "Your little encounter with your inner demons should have taught you that."

"X and Terra," Robin whispered.

"Indeed."

"Was this part of your plan?" Robin murmured.

"No. Rather, an unplanned, but profitable bonus."

"You're sick," Robin growled.

"I prefer to be known as a businessman," Slade replied smoothly, not missing a beat. "I know what I need in order to benefit, and I make a point of acquiring it, at whatever means necessary."

Robin was ill at the realization that Slade was referring to him.

By this point, Slade was standing only a foot or two away, and he reached out—Robin tried not to flinch—to tap one finger against the plate that circled Robin's shoulder.

"I'd be more worried about what _you'll _do to her, though."

"Why?" Robin demanded, defensive, knocking Slade's hand away. "I'm not going to attack her!"

"You already have."

"That's not the same!" Robin protested, face flushing with renewed fury. "That was your fault! I would never—!"

"Not now," Slade interrupted. "But the longer you stay here, the more danger you put her in, from me, and from yourself." He gestured at the armor.

Robin paled a little, but his voice didn't quake once as he retorted:

"That's not going to happen."

Slade chuckled, and stepped back, returning to the shadows.

"We'll see."

There was a roar in the distance, and he was gone.

Robin stood there a moment longer, glaring into the darkness fruitlessly, before glancing about in the direction that the sound had come. Another monster—just what he needed at the moment.

He raced over to where Raven was still sitting peacefully, and touched her shoulder, shaking her gently from side to side.

"Raven? Can you hear me? Please, let her hear me…please, please…"

The solemn expression on her face never flickered for an instant, and Robin felt his heart sink. She hadn't been kidding when she'd said she would be totally out of it.

Okay: So there was a minor problem.

The growl came again, a little closer this time, and Robin listened hard, trying to figure out what he was up against. As far as he could tell, there was only one enemy, but there might be others following, for all he knew. Odds were it was another trick of Slade's, to add a piece of armor.

Great; just what he needed.

Robin flicked out his bo-staff, and took a fighting stance in front of Raven, preparing himself. It was up to him to protect Raven.

He only hoped he was up to it.

There was an increasingly familiar tightening sensation around his other, free wrist, and he nearly screamed a wristband matching the one on his left appeared.

Fantastic.

There was a nearly deafening screech, and the creature was upon him.

**To be Continued…**


	9. Anger's Triumph

Currently cranking up Billy Idol and The Beatles and writing whenever I can. I'm really close to finishing this off, and I want to get started on the other two parts to follow up this one. For those of you who are also reading my other stuff—namely, Scars—I've been having a really bad case of writer's block. I'm having difficulty figuring out which way the plot should go, and when; the worst part is that I know where every other story in the entire series is going to go, and yet this is the one I'm having the most trouble with. Guess you could say I'm trying to live up to "Face To Face" as best as I can. Oh well.

Chapter Eight: Anger's Triumph

_It felt like she was falling through clouds, thick and pearly, sometimes lavender, sometimes gentle white, clouds that caressed her skin as she sank deeper into their depths. She had been worried, still felt that worry, about leaving Robin alone in spite of the potential danger that they had been facing ever they had arrived in his mind. But it was fading fast, writhing away like smoke, and she just barely clung to it, trying to retain something that would keep her connected to the other world._

_She was exhausted; it was a little amazing, that she had lasted this long without meditating. A whole day's work for them didn't usually involve this much exertion. She was going to have to train harder when they got out of here. Yeah, a little shocking that she wasn't as doubtful as she had been expecting, but, looking over everything that Robin and her had been through while they had been here, and the…the fact that he loved her, and had kissed her, she felt a surprising amount of optimism that she was not typically accustomed to._

_It was a nice change._

_But the sound of Robin's breathing and footsteps were nearly gone, and she could hardly see anything beyond the thickening clouds swallowing her up. She could have sworn that she heard a voice, and Robin replying, but it was gone. Her feet hit the rocky platform that hovered eternally in her mind, and Raven looked up and around her at the crimson and black sky, studded with the rare cluster of stars here and there._

_"Raven? Is that you?"_

_"Joy!" She cried, turning around, and grabbing hold of her twin immediately in an enthusiastic hug. "Did you see? He kissed me!"  
"I know!" Joy squealed, dancing around in a circle and clapping her hands. "Congrats!"_

_Raven's smile was fading fast though, as she glanced around the platform, finding it deserted._

_"Where are they others?" She asked cautiously._

_For the first time, Joy's upbeat expression flickered, and transformed into one of apprehension._

_"Someone dangerous was coming towards you right when you were meditating. Wisdom felt it. You should have seen it! There was this fight, and this argument between Anger, and Courage, and Wisdom! It was so weird, and I thought—"_

_"Where is everyone else?" Raven repeated firmly, grabbing hold of Joy's shoulders and looking her straight in the eye. "Joy? What happened to them?"_

_"They went somewhere else," Joy explained. "They felt that whatever was coming at you was stronger than usual, so they went somewhere over there—" She gestured out into the oblivion surrounding them "—to prepare strength or something like that, so you could fight it. Anyway, that's Wisdom said. I was supposed to wait here and tell you, if you came."_

_Raven felt her stomach twist. So she had been right about the danger of relaxing, even for a moment. She should have known better, known that Slade would take advantage of any opportunity to strike at them when they were weak. She was so stupid! How could she have let her guard down, even for a minute, when she was supposed to understand the circumstances? She was such a moron!_

_"Do you think Robin's going to be okay by himself?" Joy was asking, lower lip trembling, staring up at Raven with watering eyes._

_"Did they say what exactly what coming?" Raven demanded, feeling her panic rising. Joy shook her head helplessly._

_"They were trying to, but they couldn't sense anything but lots of danger. It got worse as it got closer. That's why they left, to see what was coming, and to summon enough power to give you when the time came. They…" She looked scared and just managed to whisper, "They were hoping you wouldn't come… They said that was going to make everything a lot harder…"_

_Raven's head was spinning, and she couldn't get control over herself. She was vaguely aware that her hands were shaking. Everything that Slade had thrown at them hadn't just been to build up Robin's armor, or to try and attack or kill them. He was waiting for an opening, waiting for a time when she would be weak and unable to help, and Robin would be left alone, prey to the darkness she had sensed lurking in his mind._

_The worst part was that, because she would be completely weak and unable to help herself, Robin would find it his obligation to protect her first, and sacrifice himself in her place…_

_Which was what Slade wanted all along._

_"Is Robin going to be okay?" Joy asked again, crying by this point. Her hood had fallen back, and her cheeks were streaked with tears, her eyes puffy and frightened. Raven struggled to keep breathing, and nodded._

_"Of course. I'm going back right now."_

_"But Raven!" Joy protested, looking even worried now, "You're weak! You can't fight anything right now! That's why you came here in the first place…"_

_"I don't care!" Raven snapped, instantly regretting it as she saw the hurt expression that crossed Joy's face. In a softer voice, she continued: "I can't leave him there when you said that whatever's coming is so dangerous. I have to go back and protect him in any way that I can, no matter what."_

_"Oh but Raven," someone called out mockingly behind them, and the two girls whirled around to see Anger standing there, arms crossed, looking immensely self-satisfied._

_"You just got here," she pouted, sauntering towards them. "Please stay."_

_"You!" Raven growled, pointing a finger at Anger, while stepping protectively in front of Joy. "Did you know this was going to happen? Is this what you wanted?"_

_Anger's slow smile was answer enough._

_"But why did you make me come here!" Raven snarled, sinking into a fighting stance as Anger grew closer yet. "There was no reason! If I hadn't come, Robin would have—"_

_A heavy fist grazing over her cheek ended Raven's tirade and sent her flying back. She heard Joy's gasp of fear, and footsteps pounding in her direction. Hands were at her back and shoulders, as Joy helped her into a sitting position, and the two of them glared across the platform at Anger._

_"I'm tired of all this useless talking," Anger growled, cracking her knuckles while her four eyes seemed to glow even brighter._

_"Let's fight."_

R-R-R

Purple ooze slid across the ground; concrete gnashed; sparks flew; and the monstrosity made from the combined force of Plasmus, Cinderblock, and Overload drew steadily closer to Robin, whose heart was thudding wildly in his chest. The only other time he had ever battled them like this, he'd been standing in the center of Jump City, just after Terra, as Slade's apprentice, had fled in terror at their reappearance, leaving the three monsters to take care of them.

It had been bad enough back then. But then, he had Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy by his side, ready to fight, fueled by anger and betrayal and the dedication to making things right as they once had been.

And now he was all alone…

Except he wasn't: Somewhere behind him, he heard a small groan of what almost sounded like pain, and he glanced over his shoulder at Raven, who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground. Her eyelids fluttered a little, but remained closed.

The monster growled low and dangerously, and Robin felt a shadow cover him as the creature came to a direct stop behind him.

There was a moment, a delicate moment in time where everything fell still, hanging in precision, shattered when someone would finally speak or move, but Robin didn't do either. He only stared at Raven's peaceful form, her face, the soft curtains of hair, and knew in heart and mind that he had to save her.

And then a fist of stone and slime swung down in his direction like a pendulum, and Robin tucked and rolled forward to avoid it, feeling the ground tremble with the power behind the blow. He ignored it, blood pounding in his ears, as he got to his feet and ran towards Raven.

"Raven!" He was calling, "Raven, please! You've got to wake up!"

She didn't move, as still and serene as a statue. He ran faster. There was a crackle of electricity behind him, and, ears pricked, Robin leapt to one side as a surge of white current struck the exact place where he had been only seconds ago. The monster gave a roar of frustration, voice garbled between the three creatures. Pieces of slime shot out, chasing him like bullets flying from a machine gun. Robin managed to avoid most of them, but one hit him in the calf, and he felt a burst of pain, and the trickle of blood, as the chunk of concrete, hidden within, sank into his skin. He stumbled, tripped, and landed with a thump on the ground, but immediately rolled to the side; Cinderblock's fist crashed down beside him, missing him by inches.

More electrical surges raced out from Cinderblock's fist, weaving along the floor like snakes, as they drew closer to Robin. He struggled to get to his feet, fingers scrambling to pull out the shard of concrete. His gloves were beginning to get slippery with blood, as his fingertips closed around the end of the concrete that was jutting out. He pulled it out and threw it aside, before hobbling forward. But a branch of electricity had already gotten to him, and it wrapped itself around Robin's ankle, shackling him.

White hot agony wracked his body, and Robin was aware that he was screaming, as he fought to no avail. Pain infected every fiber of his being; his eyes rolled uncontrollably, and his mind was blank, unable to focus on anything but the torture.

Then he saw Slade, saw the screens depicting his friends' bodies; saw Terra, and then Beast Boy crying over her grave, heard the words "it's all my fault" ringing in his head over and over again like a mantra. He tried to talk, tried to say anything to deny those four awful little words, but he couldn't stop, and he was shaking, losing complete control over his body, feeling it quiver as the electricity continued to inflict damage, heard himself cry out, before going silent as Overload withdrew.

He couldn't even move, just felt himself trembling. Numbness spread all over. But he knew that he had to keep going, knew it more than the pain that was still running through him, and that, even if his life didn't matter, Raven's did.

There was another shadow hovering over him: Cinderblock's hand, reaching down to pluck him off the ground. Robin's fingers, twitching a little, reached down to his utility belt and pulled out the first thing that his hand closed around—a disc of some sort. He focused on his breathing, taking huge gulps of air, trying to get a hold on himself as Cinderblock drew closer, and, at the last possible second, he flung the disc over his shoulder and forced himself onto his feet. He half-ran, half-limped towards Raven, while a roar of pain echoed behind him.

He had to keep going, couldn't stop now.

"Raven!" He cried again, his voice hoarse. "Raven, please wake up!"

She still didn't move.

Robin paused, hands on his knees, trying to breathe. He was dizzy, from the blood loss in his leg…but he couldn't stop.

So he turned, steeling himself as the monster, recovering from the disc he had slung at it, began making its way back towards him.

R-R-R

_"I wish you could see your Prince Charming now!" Anger howled with laughter, holding her stomach as she brushed away tears of mirth with her fingertips. "He's so pathetic. He won't even try to help himself, he just keeps trying to wake you up and get you to safety!"_

_Raven's teeth gritted, as she struggled up from where she had landed sprawled on the ground again, and rushed at Anger, fist raised in a punch. Anger easily dodged it, hopping lightly to the side, and landing a spin kick on Raven's exposed back. Raven fell forward, stumbling, and just barely managing to catch her balance. But Anger didn't even give her a chance, slamming her heel down in a hammer kick into Raven's head. Raven dropped to her knees, but managed to roll quickly out of the way, to avoid the next hammer kick that followed it up._

_Anger was already running at her when Raven got to her feet, right hand curved for a blow to her neck. Raven blocked the first, but nearly cried out when the left hand hit her, with much more force than the first time. Raven tried a round house, to force Anger to retreat, but the other girl only laughed and caught her leg, causing Raven to lose her balance, and fall back, knocking the wind out of her lungs._

_"You're so easy. I'm bored," Anger announced, standing over her, and grinding her heel down on Raven's fingers. The bone in her index finger cracked, and Raven let out a cry of pain. On the other side of the platform, Joy was suddenly racing towards Anger, ready to attack in any possible way. Anger raised one palm in the air, without even glancing at the oncoming attack, and Joy was thrown backwards, skittering to the edge of the platform, her head smacking on the rock._

_"No!" Raven croaked, trying to sit up, but Anger's leg snapped forward, slamming her foot into Raven's face and sending her backwards again, a bruise forming on the side of her face._

_"This is no fun. Maybe I should just possess you, and see if your Robin's stronger than you are?"_

_Raven felt her gut twist, and she used all of her willpower to jump to her feet, swinging a kick in Anger's direction, forcing her to move back into a fighting stance._

_"I knew that would piss you off," Anger informed her, smiling in a superior manner. "You're full of so much rage that it's funny how easy it is to make you lose it."_

_"Shut up," Raven ordered her, trying to hit her with a series of rapid punches with her uninjured hand. Anger moved her arms accordingly, stopping any of the blows from striking her, before twisting her body and sending Raven flying with a powerful back kick._

_"You and Robin have that in common, I've noticed," she went on carelessly. "No wonder you like him so much. Two loose cannons that use their temper to cover up how weak and afraid they are underneath."_

_"SHUT UP!" Raven commanded. The platform trembled, and a few rocky fragments plummeted into the abyss that it was suspended over. Anger looked on, her eyes glinting with cruel mischief._

_"Not bad. But I'm better."_

_The platform began to shake violently; cracks and crevices appeared on its surface, spider-webbing, and causing much larger chunks to break off, floating off into space. Over by Joy, a large piece broke off, and beginning to carry her unconscious form off into the darkness._

_"No!" Raven cried, trying to use whatever power she had left to stop it. But she was so tired, too tired to do anything, and Joy continued to float off into space, off into nothingness._

_Anger was cackling again._

_"That's it? That's sad. If you can't even help her—" She gestured dismissively at Joy, who was nearly gone by this point, "—how are you **ever** going to help your poor little boyfriend?"_

_The two of them were still hovering on the same chunk of rock. Raven could already see that space was limited, and that bits were still breaking off, so that the platform that remained was growing smaller and smaller as time passed; fighting was going to be even more dangerous now._

_"I can see him right now, actually," Anger was taunting her. "He's almost at your side; but you should see him! He's bleeding all over the place, and Overload totally fried him! It's so funny!"_

_Raven slowly got to her feet, clenching her good fist, and staring Anger down, challenge in her violet eyes. The other girl noticed, and her peals of mocking laughter died away to be replaced by a wicked smile._

_"You still want to fight, eh? You always were stubborn. But this should be good."_

_Raven ignored her and jumped forward, feinting with her bad hand. Anger caught her wrist, and began pushing back another one of her fingers, putting pressure on it almost to breaking point. Raven hissed, but swung her other hand in an uppercut, slugging Anger in the stomach. Anger stumbled backwards, growling menacingly, one hand pressed to where Raven's fist had made contact._

_Raven ran forward again, faking with a round house, but switching just as Anger raised her hands in defense, and, jumping, swung her opposite leg around to slam into Anger's head, sending her onto her back in place of Raven this time. Raven waited patiently, watching as her rage bristled in a new wave of fury and pushed herself back up to her feet. Raven was expecting some sort of physical attack, but this time, Anger raised her arms, and sent a wave of bright red energy flying at Raven, who, being in the state that she was, had no way of putting up a shield to deflect it. Instead, she dropped to the ground, holding her bad hand to her chest to protect it. The red power rushed down on her, though, covering her in a muffling blanket, and causing her skin to burn._

_Raven shrieked, unable to hold back her cries this time, and rolled to the side, out from underneath the hovering mass of red power. Anger was cackling again, and Raven moaned, only able to get to her knees this time. She became aware that smoke was rising from behind her, though, and she glanced over her shoulder to see the hem of her cloak had caught fire. She beat at it with her good hand, and had just managed to put out the flames when clawed fingers wrapped themselves in her hair and yanked her around to stare into Anger's horrible, triumphant expression._

_"Why do you keep fighting?" She asked innocently, nails digging into Raven's scalp, and causing a few warm trickles of blood to run down the side of her head. "Is it for you? For him?"_

_Raven looked her dead in the eye, and spoke not a word. Anger raised an eyebrow, but otherwise seemed unperturbed as she grinned again, two fangs evident in her gleeful smile._

_"I guess it doesn't matter, though, because I'm going to kill you anyway."_

_And she began dragging Raven toward the edge of the platform._

R-R-R

No matter how fast he moved, no matter how strong he was, the creature was still faster, still stronger, and Robin felt his will dwindling.

He darted to one side, before an attack from Plasmus forced him to leap in the other direction; Cinderblock was already there to smack him aside like a rag doll. Robin fell into a crumpled heap, tasting blood in his mouth, and feeling another trickle of blood roll down the side his face from where he'd been cut by a craggy fragment on Cinderblock's hand.

And then Overload was upon him, and even though Robin tried desperately to get away, he felt another wave of voltage swoop down on him, and he was subjected to another bout of torment, while watching his parents die, watching Slade kick him around his lair, feeling those blows from so long ago on his body, remembering.

When Overload withdrew for the second time, Robin could barely move, too beaten to resist. Stone fingers curled around his body, lifting him from the ground, and tightening their grip on him as they inflicted pressure on his ribs, and the bones in his arms. Robin gritted his teeth, on the verge of crying out, almost certain that he was going to snap in half. He hurt everywhere, and his vision kept darkening, threatening him with the knowledge that he could pass out at any given time. He couldn't breathe, his lungs were screaming for air, and his head throbbing…

And then Cinderblock dropped him abruptly. Robin plummeted to the ground, hitting it with a sickening thud, and the arm that he had put out to stop himself broke underneath him. He lay there, dazed, sometimes seeing, sometimes not, staring into the darkness beyond, unable to move…and unwilling as well.

Slime was flowing down, spreading over his ankle, creeping up his legs, and he knew that Plasmus would soon completely entrap him. But he couldn't muster enough strength to move, and could only allow it to creep up around his chest, shoulders, sneaking up his neck…and finally, letting it slide over his face, cutting of his oxygen, and distorting his vision. He lay still, breathing becoming an even more laborious task, feeling sick to his stomach.

Raven still hadn't moved…and he knew that as soon as he was finished, the monster was going to go after her. She didn't have a clue about what was happening, and she was going to die, just because he didn't think he could fight anymore.

There were more memories: The first time that he and Raven had met and how he found himself marveling at those eyes, so dark and wounded, and yet so light and beautiful at the same time. Or when her fear had caused the monsters from that stupid movie "Wicked Scary" to come alive in their Tower, and he had caught her when they had fallen down the shaft…

He had caught her when she needed him. She was a part of his team, and so, naturally, she looked to him as her leader to take care of them all. But she also loved him, and she had faith in, and trusted him when others wouldn't. She believed in him, even when he didn't himself, and she had always been there, giving him strength, giving him the ability to fight back, if only because it meant he could see her again.

_What's the point of struggling? Why should I keep fighting?  
_Because he loved her…and that was reason enough.

Robin, on the verge of blacking out, felt for his belt with his good arm, and pulled out an ice disc—his last one. He gave a silent, brief prayer, and threw it as hard as he could at the slime surrounding him.

All around him, Plasmus's slime froze and shattered. Robin was released, lying on the ground, gasping for air, and the monster was reeling from the unexpected attack. Raven was close by, and Robin dragged himself to her side, and used his one arm to get to his knees. She was still breathing gently, although occasionally she inhaled erratically, as if she were being beaten, or in pain. He drew close to her, putting one arm around her, and pressed his forehead against hers, a single tear slipping out beneath his mask. The monster had recovered quickly, and it was coming back to finish both of them, but Robin forgot the danger, forgot the pain, and forgot the past hate and weariness, and simply held her tighter.

"I love you," Robin found himself whispering, even as the monster took another step, towering above them. "I love you…"

And he pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.

R-R-R

_She could hear him._

_They had reached the edge now, and Anger, smiling wickedly, was gripping her only by her hood now; the rest of Raven's body was dangling precariously over the edge, and she was too tired to struggle, to try and escape. She was so pathetic: She couldn't even fight hard enough to save her miserable life, much less Robin's._

_Raven closed her eyes tightly, trying to hold back the hot tears of disappoint and fury that threatened to spill over._

_Above her, Anger chuckled._

_"Poor Ravey," she whined mockingly. "Don't worry. It'll be over before you know it. And there won't be **that** much pain…" She laughed quietly to herself, loosening her grip; Raven's body was lowered a few more inches, the rocky edge of the meteor tearing at her cape and skin._

_"I can't say the same for your boyfriend, though," Anger added in a soft voice. Raven wanted to scream, to try and get away, but she was so exhausted, so…utterly defeated._

_She was useless._

_Then there was the whisper. It started off faintly, like a gentle breath of wind, and Raven didn't even catch it; but it echoed, grew louder and louder. It was Robin's voice, and he was speaking to her. Anger even hesitated, her head tilted back and her eyes narrowed in confusion as the voice swelled to it's full volume._

_**"I love you," **came Robin's voice from far, far away.** "I love you…"**_

_And, as she fell a few more inches, Raven felt warmth against her lips, could almost feel him kissing her, and his arms holding her in a sweet embrace._

_Strength spread through her, surging into her body and filling her with a renewed power that was almost overwhelming. In spite of her injuries, Raven suddenly found it easy to breathe, and as she glanced back up at Anger again, she could see by the other girl's eyes that she caught off guard._

_Raven raised her palm skyward, and screamed out as loud as she possibly could:_

_"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!"_

_Anger gave a tortured screech and released her, but it hardly mattered; Raven found her powers encircling her, lifting her back up into the sky, back up towards Robin. The universe was spinning around her, everything whirling with alarming speed; she could hear Wisdom, Courage, Love, Joy and the others voices melding, returning, the platform piecing itself together, her whole mind turning on its axis. It was all a blur, and Raven burst through the chaos and—_

Into Robin's waiting arms.

Raven pulled away from him slightly, and when his eyes flew open in shock, she smiled gently.

Plasmus-Overload-Cinderblock was staggering over them, arm raised for a final blow, and Raven, summoning as much power as she possibly could, flung a wave of black energy at it.

The monster could only roar once, before it was smothered by her powers and shattered to pieces.

Raven and Robin were left kneeling on the ground beside one another, staring; and then Raven broke the spell, and turned towards him.

"Robin!" she murmured, falling into him, unable to keep a single tear from rolling down the side of her cheek. "Robin, you're all right! I was so—so scared that you were hurt…"

Robin laughed quietly and buried his face in her shoulder, still holding her as best as he could.

"Thank you, Raven…God…"

"Are you seriously hurt?" She asked again, body trembling.

"I'm perfectly all right, now that you're here," he told her softly, and Raven half-laughed, half-sobbed, holding him even tighter.

R-R-R

_"They did it!" Love cried, high-fiving Courage who was grinning as well._

_"I never doubted them!" Timid proclaimed, only to twitch violently when Wisdom prodded her lightly in the back._

_"And Raven saved me!" Joy added, skipping around the others, clapping._

_Wisdom chuckled._

_"I have to admit, I had my doubts…but they really pulled through."_

_"And we helped her!" Love reminded her, striding over to where Wisdom stood. "I mean, Joy was put in grave danger, but if we hadn't gone off to that other meteor like we did, Rae might never have gotten enough strength to fight all them off."_

_"We so rock!" Courage howled, pumping her fist in the air._

_"You fools…"_

_Each of the girls gasped, turning as one to the crumpled heap that lay at the edge of the platform, huddled beneath a bright red cloak. Anger was bleeding in several places, and from her voice, it sounded as if her nose had been broken. But her eyes were gleaming maliciously, as she slowly got to her feet in front of them. _

_And with a small, awful smile, Anger whispered two dreadful words that fell heavily in the silence:_

_"I win."_

**To be Continued…**

Blegh. I'm sorry that a lot of this is italicized—I know from experience that sometimes it can be hard to read after awhile… I'm a little tired at the moment, from writing so much, but I think I'm better than I have been for the past couple of weeks (I haven't been sleeping well, because my stupid cat keeps waking me up too early, and when I don't play with him at two in the morning, he starts eating things on my desk, or fighting with my other cat…) Anyway: So, a real cliffhanger today, eh? Next chapter is…the LAST ONE! AHHH! Hard to believe. I wish I could have written this story a lot faster, instead of taking so darn long, you know? But I'll be a lot better on this story's sequel—I solemnly swear it!

See ya later!

--Rebel


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